ILLINOIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


Carnegie  Endowment  ic  ^    ernational  Peace 


DIVISION  OF  r   .  STORY 

JOHN   BATE.      .A  ....  ;,     v.r<... 


PRELIMINARY  ECONOMIC  STUDIES  OF  THE  WAR 


EDITED  BY 
DAVID    KINLEY 

Professor  of  Political  Economy,  University  of  Illinois 
Member  of  Cotntnittee  of  Research  of  the  Endowment 


No.  16 


NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING 

THE   WAR 


BY 


EMMETT  J.  SCOTT 

Secretary-Treasurer,  Howard  University, 
Washington,  D.C. 


NEW  YORK 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

AMERICAN  BRANCH:  35  West  32nd  Street 
LONDON.  TORONTO.  MELBOURNE.  AND  BOMBAY 

1920 


COPYRIGHT  1920 

BY    THE 

CARNEGIE    ENDOWMENT   FOR   INTERNATIONAL   PEACE 
2  Jackson  Place,  Washington,  D.  C. 


ScoBn  *^^^ 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

I  think  that  no  one  more  capable  than  Dr.  Emmett  J.  Scott 
could  have  been  found  to  present  to  the  public  a  study  on  the 
subject  of  this  monograph.  The  topic  is  one  of  great  public 
importance,  and  the  author  is  equipped  for  its  treatment  both 
by  his  wide  knowledge  of  the  subject  and  his  sympathy  with 
the  viewpoint  of  his  race. 

The  problem  of  negro  labor,  its  diffusion  and  its  adaptation 
to  more  numerous  kinds  of  work,  are  problems  not  only  of 
great  public  importance  but  of  great  difficulty.  Whatever  views 
one  may  hold  on  the  general  subject  of  race  relations  between 
the  negroes  and  the  whites  in  this  country,  there  is  no  question 
that  we  can  not  reach  safe  conclusions  without  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  facts  as  they  appear  to  both  of  the  interested  parties. 
For  that  reason  this  presentation  by  Dr.  Scott  is  a  welcome  ad- 
dition to  our  information  on  the  subject. 

Sympathetically  read  it  will  help  the  whites  to  understand 
better  the  negro  viewpoint,  and  will  help  the  negroes  to  appreciate 
perhaps  more  fully  the  difficulties  which  appear  from  the  white 
viewpoint.  This  is  a  field  in  which  Tennyson's  words  are  pre- 
eminently true,  that  "  Knowledge  comes,  but  wisdom  lingers.'" 
Yet  we  can  not  hope  ever  to  attain  the  necessary  wisdom  ex- 
cepting by  an  increasing  fulness  of  knowledge.  Therefore  I 
commend  this  study  to  every  one  who  is  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion for  dispassionate  reading  and  consideration. 

David  Kinley. 


nr 


FOREWORD 

In  the  preparation  of  this  study  I  have  had  the  encouragement 
and  support  of  Dr.  Robert  R.  Moton,  Principal  of  the  Tuskegee 
Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  Alabama,  who  generously 
placed  at  my  disposal  the  facilities  of  the  Institute's  Division  of 
Records  and  Research,  directed  by  Mr.  Monroe  N.  Work,  the 
editor  of  the  Negro  Year  Book.  Mr.  Work  has  cooperated 
with  me  in  the  most  thoroughgoing  manner.  I  have  also  had 
the  support  of  the  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions  and 
particularly  of  the  Chicago  branch  of  which  Dr.  Robert  E. 
Park  is  President  and  of  which  Mr.  T.  Arnold  Hill  is  Secre- 
tary. Mr.  Hill  placed  at  my  disposal  his  first  assistant,  Mr. 
Charles  S.  Johnson,  graduate  student  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  to  whom  I  am  greatly  indebted.  I  must  also  make 
acknowledgment  of  my  indebtedness  to  Dr.  Carter  G.  Woodson, 
Director  of  the  Association  for  the  Study  of  Negro  Life  and 
History,  Incorporated,  Washington,  D.  C,  for  placing  at  my 
disposal  the  facilities  of  his  organization. 

The  work  of  investigation  was  divided  up  by  assigning  Mr. 
Work  to  Alabama,  Georgia  and  Florida;  Mr.  Johnson  to  Mis- 
sissippi and  to  centers  in  Missouri,  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and 
Indiana,  while  the  eastern  centers  were  assigned  to  Mr.  T. 
Thomas  Fortune,  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  a  former  editor  of  the 
New  York  Age,  and  a  publicist  and  investigator  of  well  known 
ability.  It  is  upon  the  reports  submitted  by  these  investigators 
that  this  study  rests.  I  can  not  speak  too  warmly  of  the  en- 
thusiastic and  painstaking  care  with  which  these  men  have 
labored  to  secure  the  essential  facts  with  regard  to  the  migration 
of  the  negro  people  from  the  South. 

Emmett  J.  Scott. 

Washington,  D.  C, 
June  5,  1919. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  Introduction 3 

II  Causes  of  the  Migration 13 

III  Stimulation  of  the  Movement ,    26 

IV  The  Spread  of  the  Movement 38 

V  The  Call  of  the  Self-Sufficient  North 49 

VI  The  Draining  of  the  Black  Belt 59 

VII  Efforts  to  Check  the  Movement 72 

VIII  Effects  of  the  Movement  on  the  South 86 

IX  The  Situation  in  St.  Louis 95 

X  Chicago  and  Its  Environs  ,' 102 

XI  The  Situation  at  Points  in  the  Middle  West 119 

XII  The  Situation  at  Points  in  the  East 134 

XIII  Remedies  for  Relief  by  National  Organizations  . .  143 

XIV  Public  Opinion  Regarding  the  Migration 152 

Bibliography 175 

Index    185 


NEGRO  MIGRATION  DURING  THE  WAR 


CHAPTER  I 
Introduction 

Within  the  brief  period  of  three  years  following  the  outbreak 
of  the  great  war  in  Europe,  more  than  four  hundred  thousand 
negroes  suddenly  moved  north.  In  extent  this  movement  is 
without  parallel  in  American  history,  for  it  swept  on  thousands 
of  the  blacks  from  remote  regions  of  the  South,  depopulated 
entire  communities,  drew  upon  the  negro  inhabitants  of  practi- 
cally every  city  of  the  South,  and  spread  from  Florida  to  the 
western  limits  of  Texas.  In  character  it  was  not  without  prece- 
dent. In  fact,  it  bears  such  a  significant  resemblance  to  the 
migration  to  Kansas  in  1879  and  the  one  to  Arkansas  and  Texas 
in  1888  and  1889  that  this  of  1916-1917  may  be  regarded  as 
the  same  movement  with  intervals  of  a  number  of  years. 

Strange  as  it  might  seem  the  migration  of  1879  first  attracted 
general  notice  when  the  accusation  was  brought  that  it  was  a 
political  scheme  to  transplant  thousands  of  negro  voters  from 
their  disfranchisement  in  the  South  to  States  where  their  votes 
might  swell  the  Republican  majority.  Just  here  may  be  found 
a  striking  analogy  to  one  of  the  current  charges  brought  against 
the  movement  nearly  forty  years  later.  The  congressional  in- 
quiry which  is  responsible  for  the  discovery  of  the  fundamental 
causes  of  the  movement  was  occasioned  by  this  charge  and  suc- 
ceeded in  proving  its  baselessness.^ 

The  real  causes  of  the  migration  of  1879  were  not  far  to 
seek.  The  economic  cause  was  the  agricultural  depression  in 
the  lower  Mississippi  Valley.  But  by  far  the  most  potent  factor 
in  effecting  the  movement  was  the  treatment  received  by  negroes 
at  the  hands  of  the  South.  More  specifically,  as  expressed  by 
the  leaders  of  the  movement  and  refugees  themselves,  they  were 
a  long  series  of  oppression,  injustice  and  violence  extending  over 

1  Congressional  Record,  46th  Cong.,  2d  sess.,  vol.  X,  p.  104. 

3 


4  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    V/AR 

a  period  of  fifteen  years;  the  convict  system  by  which  the  courts 
are  permitted  to  inflict  heavy  fines  for  trivial  offenses  and  the 
sheriff  to  hire  the  convicts  to  planters  on  the  basis  of  peonage; 
denial  of  political  rights;  long  continued  persecution  for  political 
reasons;  a  system  of  cheating  by  landlords  and  storekeepers 
which  rendered  it  impossible  for  tenants  to  make  a  living,  and 
the  inadequacy  of  school  facilities.^  Sworn  public  documents 
show  that  nearly  3,500  persons,  most  of  whom  were  negroes, 
M^ere  killed  between  1866  and  1879,  and  their  murderers  were 
never  brought  to  trial  or  even  arrested.  Several  massacres  of 
negroes  occurred  in  the  parishes  of  Louisiana,  Henry  Adams, 
traveling  throughout  the  State  and  taking  note  of  crime  com- 
mitted against  negroes,  said  that  683  colored  men  were  whipped, 
maimed  or  murdered  within  eleven  years.^ 

In  the  year  1879,  therefore,  thousands  of  negroes  from  Mis- 
sissippi, Louisiana,  Texas,  Alabama,  Tennessee  and  North  Caro- 
lina moved  to  Kansas.  Henry  Adams  of  Shreveport,  Louisiana, 
an  uneducated  negro  but,  a  man  of  extraordinary  talent,  organ- 
ized that  year  a  colonization  council.  He  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  United  States  Army  until  1869  when  he  returned  to 
his  home  in  Louisiana  and  found  the  condition  of  negroes  in- 
tolerable. Together  with  a  number  of  other  negroes  he  first 
formed  a  committee  which  in  his  own  words  was  intended  to 
"  look  into  affairs  and  see  the  true  condition  of  our  race,  to  see 
whether  it  was  possible  we  could  stay  under  a  people  who 
held  us  in  bondage  or  not."  This  committee  grew  to  the  enor- 
mous size  of  five  hundred  members.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of 
these  members  were  scattered  throughout  the  South  to  live  and 
work  among  the  negroes  and  report  their  observations.  These 
agents  quickly  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  treatment  the 
negroes  received  was  generally  unbearable.^  Some  of  the  con- 
ditions reported  were  that  land  rent  was  still  high;  that  in  the 
part  of  the  country  where  the  committee  was  organized  the 
people  were  still  being  whipped,  some  of  them  by  their  former 
owners;  that  they  were  cheated  out  of  their  crops  and  that  in 

^Atlantic  Monthly,  LXIV,  p.  222;  Nation,  XXVIII,  pp.  242,  386. 

2  Williams,  History  of  the  Negro  Race,  II,  p.  375. 

3  Atlantic  Monthly,  LXIV,  p.  222. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

some  parts  of  the  country  where  they  voted  they  were  being 
shot. 

It  was  decided  about  1877  that  all  hope  and  confidence  that 
conditions  could  be  changed  should  be  abandoned.  Members 
of  this  committee  felt  that  they  could  no  longer  remain  in  the 
South,  and  decided  to  leave  even  if  they  *'  had  to  run  away 
and  go  into  the  woods."  Membership  in  the  council  was  solicited 
with  the  result  that  by  1878  there  were  ninety-eight  thousand 
persons  from  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama  and  Texas  be- 
longing to  the  colonization  council  and  ready  to  move.^ 

About  the  same  time  there  was  another  conspicuous  figure 
working  in  Tennessee — Benjamin  or  "  Pap  "  Singleton,  who 
styled  himself  the  father  of  the  exodus.  He  began  the  work 
of  inducing  negroes  to  move  to  the  State  of  Kansas  about  1869, 
founded  two  colonies  and  carried  a  total  of  7,432  blacks  from 
Tennessee.  During  this  time  he  paid  from  his  own  pocket  over 
$600  for  circulars  which  he  distributed  throughout  the  southern 
States.  "  The  advantages  of  living  in  a  free  State  "  were  the 
inducements  offered." 

The  movement  spread  as  far  east  as  North  Carolina.  There 
a  similar  movement  was  started  in  1872  when  there  were  dis- 
•  tributed  a  number  of  circulars  from  Nebraska  telling  of  the 
United  States  government  and  railroad  lands  which  could  be 
cheaply  obtained.  This  brief  excitement  subsided,  but  was  re- 
vived again  by  reports  of  thousands  of  negroes  leaving  the  other 
States  of  the  South  for  Kansas.  Several  hundred  of  these 
migrants  from  North  Carolina  were  persuaded  en  route  to 
change  their  course  and  go  to  Indiana.^ 

Much  excitement  characterized  the  movement.  One  descrip- 
tion of  this  exodus  says : 

Homeless,  penniless  and  in  rags,  these  poor  people  were  thronging  the 
wharves  of  St.  Louis,  crowding  the  steamers  on  the  Mississippi  River,  hailing 
the  passing  steamers  and  imploring  them  for  a  passage  to  the  land  of 
freedom,  where  the  rights  of  citizens  are  respected  and  honest  toil  rewarded 
by  honest  compensation.     The  newspapers  were  filled  with  accounts  of  their 

1  Williams,  History  of  the  Negro  Race,  TT,  p.  375. 

2  W.  L.  Fleming,  "  Pap  Singleton,  the  Moses  of  the  Colored  Exodus," 
American  Journal  of    Sociology,  chapter  XV.  pp.  61-82. 

^Congressional  Record,  Senate  Reports,  693,  part  II,  46th  Cong.,  2d  sess. 


6  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

destitution,  and  the  very  air  was  burdened  with  the  cry  of  distress  from 
a  class  of  American  citizens  flying  from  persecution  which  they  could  no 
longer  endure.  Their  piteous  tales  of  outrage,  suffering  and  wrong  touched 
the  hearts  of  the  more  fortunate  members  of  their  race  in  the  North  and 
West,  and  aid  societies,  designed  to  afford  temporary  relief  and  composed 
almost  wholly  of  colored  people,  were  organized  in  Washington,  St.  Louis, 
Topeka  and  various  other  places. ^ 

Men  still  living,  who  participated  in  this  movement,  tell  of 
the  long  straggling  procession  of  migrants,  stretching  to  the 
length  at  times  of  from  three  to  five  miles,  crossing  States  on 
foot.  Churches  were  opened  all  along  the  route  to  receive 
them.  Songs  were  composed,  some  of  which  still  linger  in  the 
memory  of  survivors.  The  hardships  under  which  they  made 
this  journey  are  pathetic.  Yet  it  is  estimated  that  nearly  25,000 
negroes  left  their  homes  for  Kansas.^ 

The  exodus  during  the  World  War,  like  both  of  these,  was 
fundamentally  economic,  though  its  roots  were  entangled  in  the 
entire  social  system  of  the  South.  It  was  hailed  as  the  "  Exodus 
to  the  Promised  Land  "  and  characterized  by  the  same  frenzy 
and  excitement.  Unlike  the  Kansas  movement,  it  had  no  con- 
spicuous leaders  of  the  type  of  the  renowned  "  Pap  "  Singleton 
and  Henry  Adams.  Apparently  they  were  not  needed.  The 
great  horde  of  restless  migrants  swung  loose  from  their  acknowl- 
edged leaders.  The  very  pervasiveness  of  the  impulse  to  move 
at  the  first  definite  call  of  the  North  was  sufficient  to  stir  up 
and  carry  away  thousands  before  the  excitement  subsided. 

Despite  the  apparent  suddenness  of  this  movement,  all  evi- 
dence indicates  that  it  is  but  the  accentuation  of  a  process 
which  has  been  going  on  for  more  than  fifty  years.  So  silently 
indeed  has  this  shifting  of  the  negro  population  taken  place 
that  it  has  quite  escaped  popular  attention.  (Following  the 
decennial  revelation  of  the  census  there  is  a  momentary  out- 
burst of  dismay  and  apprehension  at  the  manifest  trend  in  the 
interstate  migration  of  negroes.  Inquiries  into  the  living  stand- 
ards of  selected  groups  of  negroes  in  large  cities  antedating  the 
migration  of  1916-1917  have  revealed  from  year  to  year  an  in- 

1  American  Journal  of  Social  Science,  XI,  pp.  22-35. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  23. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

creasing  number  of  persons  of  southern  birth  whose  length  of 
residence  has  been  surprisingly  short.  The  rapid  increase  in 
the  negro  population  of  the  cities  of  the  North  bears  eloquent 
testimony  to  this  tendency.  The  total  increase  in  the  negro 
population  between  1900  and  1910  was  11.2  per  cent.  In 
the  past  fifty  years  the  northern  movement  has  transferred  about 
4  per  cent  of  the  entire  negro  population;  and  the  movement 
has  taken  place  in  spite  of  the  negro's  economic  handicap  in 
the  North.  Within  the  same  period  Chicago  increased  her  negro 
population  46.3  per  cent  and  Columbus,  Ohio,  55.3  per  cent. 
This  increase  was  wholly  at  the  expense  of  the  South,  for  the 
rural  communities  of  the  North  are  very  sparsely  populated 
with  negroes  and  the  increment  accruing  from  surplus  birth  over 
deaths  is  almost  negligible.^ 

When  any  attempt  is  made  to  estimate  the  volume  of  this 
most  recent  movement,  however,  there  is  introduced  a  confusing 
element,  for  it  can  not  definitely  be  separated  from  a  process 
which  has  been  in  operation  since  emancipation.  Another  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  reliable  estimates  is  the  distribution  of  the 
colored  population  over  the  rural  districts.  It  is  next  to  im- 
possible to  estimate  the  numbers  leaving  the  South  even  on  the 
basis  of  the  numbers  leaving  the  cities.  The  cities  are  merely 
concentration  points  and  they  are  continually  recruiting  from 
the  surrounding  rural  districts.  It  might  be  stated  that  2,000 
negroes  left  a  certain  city.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  scarcely  half 
that  number  were  residents  of  the  city.  The  others  had  moved 
in  because  it  was  easier  to  leave  for  the  North  from  a  large 
city,  and  there  was  a  greater  likelihood  of  securing  free  trans- 
portation or  traveling  with  a  party  of  friends.  It  is  conserva- 
tively stated,  for  example,  that  Birmingham,  Alabama,  lost  38,- 
000  negroes.  Yet  within  a  period  of  three  months  the  negro 
population  had  assumed  its  usual  proportions  again.^ 

Prior  to  the  present  migration  of  negroes,  there  was  some- 
what greater  mobility  on  the  part  of  the  white  than  on  the 
part  of  the  negro  population.     As  for  example,  according  to 

1  The  Censuses  of  the  United  States. 

2  Ibid. 


8  NEGRO    MIGRATION   DURING   THE   WAR 

the  census  of  1910  of  68,070,294  native  whites,  10,366,735  or 
15.2  per  cent  were  living  in  some  other  division  than  that  in 
which  they  were  born.  Of  9,746,043  native  negroes  reported 
by  the  census  of  1910,  963,153  or  9.9  per  cent  were  living 
outside  the  division  of  birth. ^  Previous  to  the  present  migra- 
tion, the  south  Atlantic  and  the  east  south  central  divisions  were 
the  only  ones  which  had  suffered  a  direct  loss  in  population 
through  the  migration  of  negroes.^ 

The  census  of  1910  brought  out  the  fact  that  there  had  been 
considerable  migration  from  the  North  to  the  South,  as  well 
as  from  the  South  to  the  North,  and  from  the  East  to  the  West. 
The  number  of  persons  born  in  the  North  and  living  in  the 
South  (1,449,229)  was  not  very  different  from  the  number  born 
in  the  South  and  living  in  the  North  (1,527,107).  The  North, 
however,  has  contributed  more  than  five  times  as  many  to  the 
population  of  the  West  as  the  South  has.  The  number  of 
negroes  born  in  the  South  and  living  in  the  North  in  1910  was 

415.533,  or  a  little  over  two-thirds  of  the  total  number  living 
in  the  North.     Of  the  9,109,153  negroes  born  in  the  South, 

440.534,  or  4.8  per  cent,  were,  in  1910,  living  outside  the  South. ^ 
The  migration  southward  it  will  be  noted,  has  been  in  recent 
years  largely  into  the  west  south  central  division,  while  the 
migration  northward  has  been  more  evenly  distributed  by  divi- 
sions, except  that  a  comparatively  small  number  from  the  South 
have  gone  into  the  New  England  States.* 

The  greater  mobility  of  whites  than  of  negroes  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  in  1910,  15  per  cent  of  the  whites  and  10  per  cent 
of  the  negroes  lived  outside  of  the  States  in  which  they  were 
born.  This  greater  mobility  of  the  whites  as  compared  with 
the  negroes  was  due  in  a  large  measure  to  the  lack  of  oppor- 
tunities for  large  numbers  of  negroes  to  find  employment  in 
the  sections  outside  the  South.  The  World  War  changed  these 
conditions  and  gave  to  the  negroes  of  the  United  States  the 
same  opportunities  for  occupations  in  practically  every  section 

1  Vol.  I,  census  of  1910,  Population,  General  Report  and  Analysis,  p.  693. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  694. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  698. 

^  Vol.  1,  1910  census,  Population,  General  Report  and  Analysis,  p.  699. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

of  the  country,  which  had  heretofore  been  enjoyed  only  by  the 
whites.  In  1900,  27,000  negroes  born  in  the  North  lived  in  the 
South,  In  1910,  41,000  negroes  born  in  the  North  lived  in 
the  South.  This  indicated  that  there  was  beginning  to  be  a 
considerable  movement  of  negroes  from  the  North  to  the  South 
because  of  the  greater  opportunities  in  the  South  to  find  em- 
ployment in  teaching,  medicine  and  business.  The  migration 
conditions  brought  about  by  the  war  have  probably  changed  this 
to  some  extent.  Previous  to  the  World  War,  the  States  having 
the  greatest  gain  from  negro  migration  were  Arkansas,  105,500, 
Pennsylvania,  85,000,  Oklahoma,  85,000,  Florida,  84,000,  New 
York,  58,450  and  Illinois,  57,500. 

The  point  brought  out  here  indicates  that  because  of  economic 
opportunities,  Arkansas  and  Oklahoma,  being  contiguously  situ- 
ated in  one  section  of  the  South  and  Florida  in  another  section 
of  the  South,  had  received  a  greater  migration  of  negroes  than 
any  State  in  the  North. 

Dr.  William  Oscar  Scroggs  of  Louisiana  calls  attention  to 
the  tendency  of  negroes  to  move  within  the  South,  although, 
as  he  points  out,  this  tendency  is  not  as  great  as  it  is  for  the 
whites.    On  this  he  says : 

The  negro  shows  a  tendency,  not  only  to  move  northward,  but  also  to 
move  about  very  freely  within  the  South.  In  fact,  the  region  registering 
the  largest  net  gain  of  negroes  in  1910  from  this  interstate  movement  was 
the  west  south  central  division  (Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Oklahoma  and  Texas) 
which  showed  a  gain  from  this  source  of  194,658.  The  middle  Atlantic 
division  came  second  with  a  gain  of  186,384,  and  the  east  north  central  third 
with  a  gain  of  119,649.  On  the  other  hand,  the  south  Atlantic  States  showed 
a  loss  of  392,827,  and  the  east  south  central  States  a  loss  of  200,876  from 
interstate  migration.  While  the  negroes  have  shown  this  marked  inclination 
toward  interstate  movement,  they  nevertheless  exhibit  this  tendency  in  less 
degree  than  do  the  whites.^ 

The  subjoined  tables  show  the  intersectional  migration  of 
the  negro  population : 

1  Scroggs,  "  Interstate  Migration  of  Negro  Population,"  Journal  of  Po- 
litical Economy,  December,  1917,  p.  1040. 


10 


NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 


INTERSECTIONAL  MIGRATION  OF  NEGROES 

(As  Reported  by  Census  of  1910) 

Number  Born  in  Specified  Divisions  and  Living  In  or  Out  of 

These  Divisions 


Total  Born  in 
the  Division 

Number 

Living : 

Per  Cent  Liv- 
ing Without 
the  Division 
in  Which 
Born 

Division 

Within 
Division 

Without 
Division 

United  States   

Newr  England   

Middle  Atlantic   . . . 
East  North  Central 
West  North  Central 

South  Atlantic   

East   South   Central 
West  South  Central 
Mountain    

9,746.043 

37,799 

212,145 

173,226 

198,116 

4,487,313 

2,844,598 

1,777,242 

7,342 

8,262 

8,782,890 

30,815 

189,962 

145,187 

162,054 

4,039.173 

2,491.607 

1,713,888 

4,122 

6,082 

963,153 

6,984 

22,183 

28,039 

36,062 

448.140 

352,991 

63,354 

3,220 

2,180 

9.9 
•18.5 
10.5 
16.2 
18.2 
10.0 
12.4 
3.6 
43.9 

Pacific   

264 

Number  Living  in  Specified  Divisions 


Division 

Total  Living 

in  the 

Division 

Number 

Born  in  and 

Living  in 

the  Division 

Number 

Living  in 

the  Division 

Born  in  Other 

Divisions 

Per  Cent 

Living  in 

Division 

Born  in  Other 

Divisions 

United  States  

New  England   

Middle  Atlantic   ... 
East  North  Central 
West  North  Central 

South  Atlantic 

Fast   South  Central 
West  South  Central 
Mountain    

9,746,043 

58,109 

398,529 

292,875 

238,613 

4,094,486 

2,643.722 

1,971,900 

20,571 

27,238 

8,782,890 

30,815 

189,962 

145,187 

162,054 

4,039,173 

2,491,607 

1,713,888 

4,122 

6,082 

963,153 

27,294 

208,567 

147,688 

76,559 

55,313 

152,115 

258,012 

16,449 

21,156 

9.9 

47.0 
52.3 
50.4 
32.1 
1.4 
5.8 
13.1 
80.0 

Pacific   

77.7 

INTRODUCTION 


11 


Migration  North  to  South,  South  to  North  and  East  to  West 


Born  in: 

State  of 

Total 

Native 

Population 

Birth  not 

Race  and  Section 
of  Residence 

The  North 

The  South 

The  West 

Reported 

or  Born  in 

Outlying 

Posses- 

sions, etc. 

All  Races 

United  States   

78,456,380 

46,179,002 

29,010,255 

2,906,162 

360,961 

The  North 

44,390,371 

42,526,162 

1,527,107 

124,001 

213,101 

The  South  

28,649,319 

1,449,229 

27,079,282 

38,230 

82,578 

The  West 

5,416,690 

2,203,611 

403,866 

2,743,931 

65,282 

White 

United  States   

68,386,412 

45,488,942 

19,814,860 

2,766,492 

316,118 

The  North 

43,319,193 

41,891,353 

1,110,245 

116,939 

200.656 

The  South  

19,821,249 

1,407,262 

18,326,236 

34,523 

53.228 

The  West 

5,245,970 

2,190,327 

378,379 

2,615,030 

62,234 

Negro 

United  States   

9,787,424 

621,286 

9,109,153 

15.604 

41,381 

The  North 

999,451 

570,298 

415,533 

2.295 

11,325 

The  South  

8,738.858 

39,077 

8,668,619 

2,412 

28,750 

The  West 

49,115 

11,911 

25,001 

10,897 

1,306 

12 


NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 


Net  Migration  Eastward  and  Westward  and 
Northward  and  Southward 


Population,  1910 

Total 

White 

Negro 

Section 

Total 

Of  Na- 
tive Par- 
entage 

Of  For- 
eign or 
Mixed 
Parent- 
age 

All 
Other 

Born   east   and   living 
west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  . .  . 

Born  west  and  living 
east  of  the   Mis- 
sissippi River  . . . 

5,276,879 
684,773 

4,941,529 
616,939 

4,324,590 
1,407,262 
1,110.245 

297,017 

3,846,940 
417,541 

3,429,399 

1,156,122 

944.572 

211,550 

1,094,589 
199,398 

895,191 
251,140 
165.673 

85,467 

331,031 
63,671 

4,319 
4,163 

Net  migration  west- 
ward   across    the 
Mississippi    River 

Born   North  and  liv- 
ing South    

Born    South  and   liv- 
ing North   

4,592,106 
1,449,229 
1,527,107 

267,360 

39.077 

415.533 

156 
2,890 
1,329 

Net  migration  south- 
ward     

376,456 

1,561 

Net  migration  north- 
ward 

77,878 

CHAPTER  II 
Causes  o£  the  Migration 

It  seems  particularly  desirable  in  any  study  of  the  causes  of 
the  movement  to  get  beneath  the  usual  phraseology  on  the  sub- 
ject and  find,  if  possible,  the  basis  of  the  dissatisfaction,  and 
the  social,  pohtical  and  economic  forces  supporting  it.  It  seems 
that  most  of  the  causes  alleged  were  present  in  every  section 
of  the  South,  but  frequently  in  a  different  order  of  importance. 
The  testimony  of  the  migrants  themselves  or  of  the  leading  white 
and  colored  men  of  the  South  was  in  general  agreement.  The 
chief  points  of  disagreement  were  as  to  which  causes  were 
fundamental.  The  frequency  with  which  the  same  causes  were 
given  by  different  groups  is  an  evidence  of  their  reality.  i 

A  most  striking  feature  of  the  northern  migration  was  its 
individualism.  This  factor  after  all,  however,  was  economic. 
The  motives  prompting  the  thousands  of  negroes  were  not 
always  the  same,  not  even  in  the  case  of  close  neighbors.  As 
a  means  of  making  intelligible  these  complicating  factors  it  is 
necessary  to  watch  the  process  as  it  affected  the  several  migrants. 
The  economic  motive  stands  among  the  foremost  reasons  for 
the  decision  of  the  group  to  leave  the  South.  There  are  several 
ways  of  arriving  at  a  conclusion  regarding  the  economic  forces. 
These  factors  might,  for  example,  be  determined  by  the  amount 
of  unemployment  or  the  extent  of  poverty  in  a  community 
as  registered  by  the  prosperity.  These  facts  are  important,  but 
may  or  may  not  account  wholly  for  individual  action.  Except 
in  a  few  localities  of  the  South  there  was  no  actual  misery 
and  starvation.  Nor  is  it  evident  that  those  who  left  would 
have  perished  from  want  had  they  remained.  Discontent  be- 
came more  manifest  as  comparisons  were  made  between  the 
existing  state  of  things  at  home  and  a  much  better  state  of 
things  elsewhere.     It  is  possible  to  note  in  the  appeals  of  the 

13 


14  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

letters  a  suggestion  of  a  desire  simply  to  improve  their  living 
standards  so  long  as  there  was  an  opportunity.  In  the  case 
of  some  there  is  expressed  a  praiseworthy  providence  for 
their  families;  and  in  others  may  be  found  an  index  to  the  pov- 
erty and  hopelessness  of  their  home  communities.  In  this  type 
of  migration  the  old  order  is  strangely  reversed.  Large  num- 
bers of  negroes  have  frequently  moved  around  from  State  to 
State  and  even  within  the  States  of  the  South  in  search  of  more 
remunerative  employment.  A  movement  to  the  West  or  even 
about  in  the  South  could  have  proceeded  from  the  same  cause, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  migration  to  Arkansas  and  Oklahoma. 

Among  the  immediate  economic  causes  of  the  migration  were 
the  labor  depression  in  the  South  in  1914  and  1915  and  the 
large  decrease  in  foreign  immigration  resulting  from  the  World 
War.  Then  came  the  cotton  boll  weevil  in  the  summers  of 
1915  and  1916,  greatly  damaging  the  cotton  crop  over  consid- 
erable area,  largely  in  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia 
and  Florida,  and  threatening  greatly  to  unsettle  farming  con- 
ditions in  the  year  1917.^  There  followed  then  the  cotton  price 
demoralization  and  the  low  price  of  this  product  during  subse- 
quent years.  The  unusual  floods  during  the  summer  of  1915 
over  large  sections  in  practically  the  same  States  further  aggra- 
vated the  situation.  The  negroes,  moreover,  were  generally  dis- 
satisfied because  of  the  continued  low  wages  which  obtained 
in  the  South  in  spite  of  the  increasing  cost  of  living.  Finally, 
there  was  a  decided  decrease  in  foreign  immigration.  The  re- 
sult was  a  great  demand  in  the  North  for  the  labor  of  the  negro 
at  wages  such  as  he  had  never  received.^ 

To  understand  further  the  situation  in  the  South  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  migration  and  just  prior  to  it,  attention  should 
be  directed  to  the  fact  that  the  practice  of  mortgaging  the 
cotton  crop  before  it  is  produced  made  sudden  reversals — an 
inevitable  result  of  such  misfortune  as  followed  the  boll  weevil 
and  the  floods.  Thousands  of  landlords  were  forced  to  dismiss 
their  tenants  and  close  the  commissaries  from  which  came  the 

1  New  York  Times,  September  5,  9.  28,  1916. 

•^Ibid.,  October  18,  28;  November  5,  7,  12,  15;  December  4,  9,  1916. 


CAUSES    OF   THE    MIGRATION  15 

daily  rations.  Some  planters  in  Alabama  and  Mississippi  ad- 
vised their  tenants  to  leave  and  even  assisted  them.  The  banks 
and  merchants  refused  to  extend  credit  when  cotton  was  no 
longer  to  be  had  as  a  security.  As  a  consequence,  a  great  num- 
ber of  tenants  were  left  without  productive  work,  money  or 
credit.  A  host  of  idle  persons  thrown  suddenly  on  the  labor 
market  could  have  no  other  effect  than  to  create  an  excess  in 
the  cities  to  which  they  flocked,  make  laborers  easily  replaceable, 
and  consequently  reduce  wages.  A  southern  paper  in  comment- 
ing on  this  situation  declared  "  there  is  nothing  for  this  excess 
population  to  do.  These  people  must  live  on  the  workers, 
making  the  workers  poorer  ...  if  there  is  a  tap  that  will 
draw  off  the  idle  population,  that  will  be  a  good  thing  for  the 
cities  at  least."  ^ 

The  circumstances  of  unemployment  which  contributed  so 
largely  to  the  restless  mood  in  some  sections  of  the  South  was 
due  primarily  to  a  lack  of  sufficient  capital  to  support  labor 
during  the  lean  seasons.  This  meant,  of  course,  that  the  cotton 
pests  and  storms  that  played  havoc  with  whole  sections  rendered 
helpless  all  classes  of  the  population.  The  usual  method  of  han- 
dling labor,  especially  on  the  cotton  plantations,  was  for  the 
planter  to  maintain  his  hands  from  the  commissary  during  the 
fall  and  early  winter  in  order  that  they  might  be  convenient 
for  the  starting  and  cultivation  of  a  new  crop.  But  with  their 
last  year's  crop  lost,  their  credit  gone  and  the  prospects  of  a 
new  crop  very  shadowy,  there  was  left  no  other  course  but  to 
dismiss  the  people  whom  they  could  not  support. 

For  a  long  time  southern  farmers  had  been  importuned  to 
adopt  a  more  diversified  method  of  farming  to  offset  the  effects 
of  unexpected  misfortune  in  the  cotton  industry  and  to  preserve 
the  value  of  the  soil.  Following  the  ravages  of  the  boll  weevil, 
the  idea  gained  wide  application.  The  cotton  acreage  was  cut 
down  and  other  crops  substituted.  The  cultivation  of  cotton 
requires  about  five  times  as  many  laborers  as  the  cultivation 
of  corn  and  the  work  is  fairly  continuous  for  a  few  employes 
throughout  the  year.     Additional  unemployment  for  negro  ten- 

^Work,  Report  on  Negro  Migration  from  Alabama. 


16  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

ant  farmers  was  an  expected  result  of  this  diversification.  The 
greatest  immediate  disadvantage  to  negro  planters  and  small 
farmers  resulting  from  the  failure  of  the  cotton  crops  was 
the  lack  of  money  and  credit  to  sustain  them  while  the  corn 
and  velvet  beans  were  being  grown.  It  was  for  like  reasons 
impracticable  to  attempt  to  raise  stock,  for  there  was  no  means 
of  making  a  beginning,  as  a  certain  amount  of  capital  was 
prerequisite. 

Despite  the  fact  that  food  prices  began  to  rise  with  the  war, 
wages  advanced  very  slowly.  In  1915,  wages  of  farm  laborers 
in  the  South  averaged  around  75  cents  a  day.  In  the  towns 
the  principal  opportunities  for  employment  were  in  the  oil  mills, 
lumber  mills,  cotton  compresses,  railroad  shops  and  domestic 
service.  In  the  mills  and  shops  the  average  of  wages  ranged 
from  $1  to  $1.50  a  day.  The  wages  of  such  skilled  laborers 
as  carpenters  and  bricklayers  ranged  from  $2  to  $3.50  a  day. 
In  domestic  service  women  received  from  $1.50  to  $3  per  week 
and  board.  Men  in  domestic  service  received  on  an  average  of 
$5  a  week.^ 

In  spite  of  these  conditions  in  the  South  it  might  appear 
strange  that  not  until  fifty  years  after  the  privilege  was  granted 
negroes  to  go  where  they  pleased  did  they  begin  to  make  a 
sudden  rush  for  the  northern  States.  Stranger  still  does  it  seem 
that,  despite  the  fairly  general  agreement  among  southern  negroes 
that  the  North  affords  greater  personal  liberty,  is  less  prejudiced 
to  individuals  because  of  the  color  of  their  skins,  grants  to 
negroes  something  nearer  to  open  handed  justice,  participation 
in  the  government,  wider  privileges  and  freer  associations,  there 
should  be  in  1910  scarcely  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  negro 
population  where  these  reputed  advantages  are.  The  North 
has  been  looked  upon  as  the  "  Promised  Land,"  the  "  Ark  of 
Safety,"  the  "  House  of  Refuge  "  for  all  these  years.  A  com- 
mon reason  recently  advanced  by  the  majority  of  southern 
negroes  for  the  abandonment  of  their  homes  was  the  desire  to 
escape  from  the  oppressive  social  system  of  their  section.  Why 
have  they  not  escaped  before  ?    The  answer  lies  in  the  very  hard 

1  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 


CAUSES    OF    THE    "MIGRATION  17 

fact  that,  though  the  North  afforded  larger  privileges,  it  would 
not  support  negroes.  It  was  the  operation  of  an  inexorable 
economic  law.  confused  with  a  multitude  of  social  factors,  that 
pushed  them  back  to  the  soil  of  the  South  despite  their  manifest 
desire  to  leave  it. 

None  of  the  causes  was  more  effective  than  that  of  the 
opportunity  to  earn  a  better  living.  Wages  offered  in  the  North 
were  double  and  treble  those  received  in  the  South.  Women 
who  received  $2.50  a  week  in  domestic  service  could  earn  from 
$2.10  to  $2.50  a  day  and  men  receiving  $1.10  and  $1.25  a  day 
could  earn  from  $2.50  to  $3.75  a  day  in  the  various  industries 
in  the  North. ^     An  intensive  study  of  the  migration  to  Pitts- 

1  Attractive  advertisements  appeared  in  negro  newspapers  with  wide  cir- 
culation in  the  South.    These  are  from  the  Chicago  Defender. 

''  Wanted — 10  molders.  Must  be  experienced.  $4.50  to  $5.50  per  day. 
Write  B.  F.  R.    Defender  Office." 

"  Wanted — ^25  girls  for  dishwashing.  Salary  $7  a  week  and  board.  John 
R.  Thompson,  Restaurant,  314  South  State  Street.  Call  between  7  and  8  a.m. 
Ask  for  Mr.  Brown." 

"  Wanted — 25  young  men  as  bus  boys  and  porters.  Salary  $8  per  week 
and  board.  John  R.  Thompson.  Restaurant,  314  South  State  Street.  Call 
between  7  and  8  a.m.    Ask  for  Mr.  Brown." 

"  Molders  wanted.  Good  pay,  good  working  conditions.  Firms  supply 
cottages  for  married  men.     Apply  T.  L.  Jefferson,  3439  State  Street. 

"  Ten  families  and  50  men  wanted  at  once  for  permanent  work  in  the 
Connecticut  tobacco  fields.  Good  wages.  Inquire  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes,  2303  Seventh  Avenue,  New  York  Citv,  New 
York." 

■'  Molders  wanted.  A  large  manufacturing  concern,  ninetj^  miles  from 
Chicago,  is  in  need  of  experienced  molders.  Wages  from  $3  to  $5.50.  Extra 
for  overtime.  Transportation  from  Chicago  only.  Apply  Chicago  League 
on  L^rban  Conditions  among  Negroes.  T.  Arnold  Hill,  Executive  Secretary, 
3719  State  Street,  Chicago." 

"  Laborers  wanted  for  foundry,  warehouse  and  yard  work.  Excellent 
opportunity  to  learn  trades,  paying  good  money.  Start  $2.50 — $2.75  per  day. 
Extra  for  overtime.  Transportation  advanced  from  Chicago  only.  Apply 
Chicago  League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes,  3719  South  State 
Street.  Chicago." 

"  Experienced  machinists,  foundrymen.  pattern  makers  wanted,  for  perma- 
nent work  in  Massachusetts.  Apply  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions 
among  Negroes,  2303  7th  Ave.,  New  York  City." 

"  3.000  laborers  to  work  on  railroad.  Factory  hires  all  race  help.  More 
positions  open  than  men  for  them." 

"  Men  wanted  at  once.  Good  steady  emploj'ment  for  colored.  Thirty 
and  39J/2  cents  per  hour.  Weekly  payments.  Good  warm  sanitary  quarters 
free.  Best  commissary  privileges.  Towns  of  Newark  and  Jersey  City. 
Fifteen  minutes  by  car  line  offer  cheap  and  suitable  homes  for  men  with 
families.  For  out  of  town  parties  of  ten  or  more  cheap  transportation  will 
be  arranged.     Only  reliable  men  who  stay  on  their  job  are  wanted.     Apply 


18  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

burgh,  made  by  Mr.  Abraham  Epstein,  gives  an  idea  of  the 
difference  in  wages  paid  in  the  North  and  the  South.  His 
findings  may  be  quoted :  "  The  great  mass  of  workers  get  higher 
wages  here  than  in  the  places  from  which  they  come.  Fifty-six 
per  cent  received  less  than  two  dollars  a  day  in  the  South,  while 
only  five  per  cent  received  such  wages  in  Pittsburgh."  Sixty- 
two  per  cent  received  between  $2  and  $3  per  day  in  Pittsburgh 
as  compared  with  25  per  cent  in  the  South,  and  28  per  cent 
received  between  $3  and  $3.60  in  this  city  as  compared  with 
four  per  cent  in  the  South. 

The  inability  to  educate  their  children  properly  because  of 
the  inadequacy  of  school  facilities  was  another  cause  which  has 
been  universally  given  for  leaving  the  South.^  The  basis  for 
this  frequently  voiced  complaint  is  \vell  set  forth  in  the  study 
of  Negro  Education  by  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones.^ 

or  write  Butterworth  Judson  Corporation,  Box  273,  Newark,  New  Jersey,  or 
Daniel  T.  Brantley,  315  West  119th  Street,  New  York  City." 

"  $3.60  per  day  can  be  made  in  a  steel  foundry  in  Minnesota,  by  strong, 
healthy,  steady  men.  Open  only  to  men  living  in  Chicago.  Apply  in  person. 
Chicago  League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes,  3719  South  State 
Street,  Chicago,  Illinois." 

1  An  investigator  in  Mississippi  reports  the  following: 

The  school  population  is  60  per  cent  colored.  There  are  seven  white  and 
two  colored  schools.  The  average  salaries  paid  to  white  assistant  teachers 
is  $75  per  month.  The  average  salaries  paid  to  colored  assistant  teachers  is 
$32.50  per  month.  The  average  number  of  pupils  taught  by  white  is  30  and 
the  average  number  taught  by  colored  is  100. 

In  the  county  there  are  no  agricultural  high  schools  or  in  fact  high  schools 
of  any  kind.  The  whites  in  the  same  county  have  an  agricultural  high 
school  of  "magnificent  proportions"  and  "excellent  facilities,"  a  literary 
high  school  and  about  ten  consolidated  schools. 

Negroes  complain  that  the  authorities  are  building  white  schools  in  com- 
munities where  the  negro  population  is  five  times  as  great.  When  they  first 
sought  to  establish  these  consolidated  schools,  there  was  a  provision  that 
every  one  must  pay  taxes  to  support  them.  Negroes  who  were  required  to 
pay  large  taxes  refused  because  they  were  denied  the  benefits  of  the  schools. 
A  law  was  passed  with  the  provision  that  the  majority  of  qualified  electors 
in  a  county  supervisor's  district  might  secure  one  of  these  schools  on  peti- 
tion to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  and  with  the  understanding  that  they 
would  pay  taxes.  But  negroes  are  not  qualified  electors  and  consequently 
have  no  schools. 

In  Liberty  Grove  the  white  school  goes  to  the  twelfth  grade,  with  courses 
also  in  music.  Automobiles  bring  the  children  to  school  and  carry  them 
back.  The  negro  school  in  the  same  community  has  only  one  teacher  getting 
$25  per  month  and  teaching  over  200  children.  There  are  two  large  negro 
denominational  schools,  Jackson  College  and  Campbell  College  which  serve 
to  supplement  the  public  schools  provided  by  the  city. 

2  Jones,  Negro  Education,  vol.  II,  pp.  14,  15,  Bulletin,  1916,  No.  30  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 


CAUSES    OF    THE    MIGRATION.  19 

The  inadequacy  of  the  elementary  school  system  for  colored  children  is 
indicated  both  by  the  comparisons  of  public  appropriations  already  given 
and  by  the  fact  that  the  attendance  in  both  public  and  private  schools  is 
only  58.1  per  cent  of  the  children  six  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  average 
length  of  the  public  school  term  is  less  than  five  months  in  practically  all 
of  the  southern  States.  Most  of  the  school  buildings,  especially  those  in 
the  rural  districts,  are  in  wretched  condition.  There  is  little  supervision  and 
little  effort  to  improve  the  schools  or  adapt  their  efforts  to  the  needs  of 
the  community.  The  reports  of  the  State  Departments  of  Georgia  and 
Alabama  indicate  that  70  per  cent  of  the  colored  teachers  have  third  grade 
or  temporary  certificates,  representing  a  preparation  less  than  that  usually 
given  in  the  first  eight  elementary  grades.  Investigations  made  by  super- 
visors of  colored  schools  in  other  States  indicate  that  the  percentage  of 
poorly  prepared  colored  teachers  is  almost  as  high  in  the  other  southern 
States. 

The  supervisor  of  white  elementary  rural  schools  in  one  of  the  States 
recently  wrote  concerning  negro  schools :  "  I  never  visit  one  of  these 
(negro)  schools  without  feeling  that  we  are  wasting  a  large  part  of  this 
money  and  are  neglecting  a  great  opportunity.  The  negro  schoolhouses  are 
miserable  beyond  all  description.  They  are  usually  without  comfort,  equip- 
ment, proper  lighting  or  sanitation.  Nearly  all  of  the  negroes  of  school  age 
in  the  district  are  crowded  into  these  miserable  structures  during  the  short 
term  which  the  school  runs.  Most  of  the  teachers  are  absolutely  untrained 
and  have  been  given  certificates  by  the  county  board,  not  because  they  have 
passed  the  examination,  but  because  it  is  necessary  to  have  some  kind  of 
negro  teacher.  Among  the  negro  rural  schools  which  I  have  visited,  I  have 
found  only  one  in  which  the  highest  class  knew  the  multiplication  table." 


The  treatment  which  the  negroes  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  courts  and  the  guardians  of  the  peace  constituted  another 
cause  of  the  migration,  Negroes  largely  distrust  the  courts 
and  have  to  depend  on  the  influence  of  their  aristocratic  white 
friends.  When  a  white  man  assaults  a  negro  he  is  not  pun- 
ished. When  a  white  man  kills  a  negro  he  is  usually  freed 
without  extended  legal  proceedings,  but  the  rule  as  laid  down 
by  the  southern  judge  is  usually  that  when  a  negro  kills  a  white 
man,  whether  or  not  in  self-defense,  the  negro  must  die.  Negro 
witnesses  count  for  nothing  except  when  testifying  against 
members  of  their  own  race.  The  testimony  of  a  white  man 
is  conclusive  in  every  instance.  In  no  State  of  the  South  can 
a  negro  woman  get  a  verdict  for  seduction,  nor  in  most  cases 
enter  a  suit  against  a  white  man;  nor,  where  a  white  man  is 
concerned,  is  the  law  of  consent  made  to  apply  to  a  negro  girl. 


20  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

It  will  be  said,  however,  that  such  drastic  action  is  not  gen- 
eral in  the  South;  but  throughout  the  Black  Belt  the  negroes 
suffer  from  arrests  and  impositions  for  petty  offenses  which  make 
their  lives  sometimes  miserable.  The  large  number  of  negroes 
owning  automobiles  is  a  source  of  many  conflicts.  Many  col- 
lisions, possibly  avoidable,  have  resulted  in  wresting  from  the 
negroes  concerned  excessive  damages  which  go  to  increase  the 
returns  of  the  courts.  For  example,  the  chauffeur  of  one  of 
the  most  influential  negroes  in  Mississippi  collided  with  a  white 
man's  car.  Although  there  was  sufficient  evidence  to  exonerate 
the  chauffeur  concerned,  the  owner  of  the  vehicle  was  forced 
to  pay  damages  and  sell  his  car.^ 

In  the  Birmingham  district  of  Alabama  a  striking  discrimi- 
nation is  made  in  the  arrests  for  failure  to  pay  the  street  tax. 
Mr.  Henry  L.  Badham,  President  of  the  Bessemer  Coal,  Iron 
and  Land  Company,  said  in  commenting  on  the  causes  of  the 
migration : 

I  do  not  blame  the  negroes  for  going  away  from  Birmingham.  The 
treatment  that  these  unfortunate  negroes  are  receiving  from  the  police  is 
enough  to  make  them  desire  to  depart.  The  newspapers  have  printed  articles 
about  the  departure  of  the  laborers  from  Birmingham.  On  one  page  there 
is  a  story  to  the  effect  that  something  should  be  done  to  prevent  the  exodus 
of  the  negroes  to  other  cities.  And  then  on  the  same  page  there  appears 
a  little  paragraph  stating  that  negroes  were  arrested  for  failure  to  pay  $2.50 
street  tax.  The  injustice  of  arresting  these  negroes  for  the  inability  to 
have  $2.50  ready  to  turn  over  into  the  coffers  of  the  city  is  obvious.  While 
they  have  been  taken  into  custody,  despite  their  protests  that  they  merely 
have  not  a  sufficient  amount  of  money  with  which  to  meet  the  demand,  you 
do  not  see  that  white  men  are  arrested  for  the  failure  to  pay  the  tax. 
There  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  there  are  thousands  of  men  walking  the 
streets  who  have  not  paid  a  similar  sum  into  the  treasury  of  the  city.  The 
negroes  ought  to  get  a  square  deal.  When  he  is  without  funds,  you  can  not 
blame  him  for  that.  The  city  police  ought  to  be  more  reliable,  or  at  least 
show  no  favoritism.2 

The  fee  system  in  the  courts  of  the  South  is  one  of  the 
most  effective  causes  of  the  migration.  The  employers  of  labor 
fought  this  system  for  eight  years  and  finally  got  it  abolished 
in  Jefferson  county,  Alabama.     Under  this  system  the  sheriff 

1  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 

2  Montgomery  Advertiser. 


CAUSES    OF    THE    MIGRATION  21 

received  a  fee  for  feeding  all  prisoners.  The  greater  the  num- 
ber of  prisoners,  the  greater  would  be  the  income  for  the  sheriff's 
office.  As  a  result,  it  became  customary  in  Jefferson  county, 
Alabama,  to  arrest  negroes  in  large  numbers.  Deputy  sheriffs 
would  go  out  to  mining  camps  where  there  were  large  numbers 
of  laborers  and  bring  back  fifty  or  more  negroes  at  a  time. 
This  condition  became  unbearable  both  to  the  employer  and 
to  the  employe.  Calling  attention  to  the  evil  of  this  fee  system. 
Dr.  W.  H.  Oates,  State  Prison  Inspector,  said  in  his  annual 
report  for  1914 :  ^ 

The  vile,  pernicious,  pervading  fee  system  beggars  description  and  my 
vocabulary  is  inadequate  to  describe  its  deleterious  and  baneful  effects.  It 
increases  in  the  management  of  our  jails  greed  for  the  almighty  dollar. 
Prisoners  are  arrested  because  of  the  dollar  and,  shame  to  say,  are  fre- 
quently kept  in  captivity  for  months  in  steel  cages  for  no  other  reason  than 
the  almighty  dollar. 

During  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30,  1917,  Jefferson 
county  had  6,000  prisoners  as  follows : 

In  jail  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 328 

Incarcerated  during  the  year : 

White  men    1,289 

Negro  men    3,636 

White   women    118 

Negro  women    969 

Total     6,340 

The  fee  bill,  according  to  the  sheriff's  annual  report  of  this 
department  was  $37,688.90.  As  the  law  provided  that  for 
each  prisoner  the  sheriff  shall  receive  30  cents  a  day  for  feed- 
ing, and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  sheriff  fed  them  for  10  cents 
a  day,  it  is  clear  that  he  made  a  net  profit  of  $25,125.91  during 
one  fiscal  year  or  at  the  same  rate  for  his  term  of  four  years, 
$100,503.76.- 

Another  frequent  complaint  was  directed  against  the  accom- 
modations for  travel.  It  generally  happens  that  the  cars  are 
crowded  because  the  amount  of  space  allotted  is  insufficient,  and 

^  Annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Inspector  of  .A.labama,  1914. 
2  Report  of  the  Sheriff  of  Jefferson  County,  Alabama,  1917. 


22  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

negroes  as  a  class  are  denied  accommodation  in  sleeping  and 
dining  cars.  Usually  there  is  but  one  toilet  for  both  sexes  and 
the  waiting  rooms  at  stations  are  cut  off,  unclean  and  insani- 
tary. Then  there  are  numerous  petty  offenses,  which  in  them- 
selves appear  trifling,  but  which  are  spoken  of  as  being  on  the 
whole  considerably  annoying.  White  men  are  permitted  to  come 
into  the  negroes'  part  of  the  coach  and  entertain  the  conductor, 
newsboy  and  flagman,  all  of  whom  usually  make  their  headquar- 
ters there.  The  drunkards,  the  insane  and  other  undesirables 
are  forced  into  this  comparment  among  negro  women  who  have 
to  listen  to  oaths  and  vulgar  utterances.  In  stopping  at  some 
points,  the  trains  halt  the  negro  car  in  muddy  and  abominably 
disagreeable  places;  the  rudeness  and  incivility  of  the  public 
servants  are  ever  apparent,  and  at  the  stations  the  negroes  must 
wait  at  a  separate  window  until  every  white  passenger  has  pur- 
chased a  ticket  before  he  is  waited  on,  although  he  may  be  de- 
layed long  enough  to  miss  the  train. 

Both  whites  and  negroes  in  mentioning  the  reasons  for  the 
movement  generally  give  lynching  as  one  of  the  most  important 
causes  and  state  that  the  fear  of  the  mob  has  greatly  accelerated 
the  exodus.  Negroes  in  Florida  gave  as  their  reason  for  going 
north  the  horrible  lynchings  in  Tennessee.  The  white  press 
in  Georgia  maintained  that  lynchings  were  driving  the  negroes 
in  large  numbers  from  that  State.  A  careful  study  of  the 
movement,  however,  shows  that  bad  treatment  by  representa- 
tives of  the  law  caused  almost  as  many  negroes  to  leave  the 
South  as  lynchings,  for,  whereas  lynchings  were  more  or  less 
sporadic,  persecutions  and  mistreatment  by  representatives  of 
the  law  were  trials  which  all  negroes  had  continually  to  bear 
and  from  which  they  were  anxious  to  escape.^ 

Many  of  these  causes  then  have  their  origin  on  the  one  hand 
in  the  attitude  which  the  South  assumes  toward  the  negro  as 
expressed  in  law  and  public  opinion,  and  on  the  other  hand 
in  the  feeling  of  the  negro  toward  the  South  because  of  the 
treatment  given  him.  A  negro  educator  of  Mississippi  sought 
to  explain  the  situation,  saying: 

1  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 


CAUSES    OF    THE    MIGRATION  23 

Many  white  men  of  high  intellectual  ability  and  keen  discernment  have 
mistaken  the  negroes'  silence  for  contentment,  his  facial  expression  for 
satisfaction  at  prevailing  conditions,  and  his  songs  and  jovial  air  for  happi- 
ness.^  But  this  is  not  always  so.  These  are  his  methods  of  bearing  trouble 
and  keeping  his  soul  sweet  under  seeming  wrongs.  In  the  absence  of  a 
spokesman  or  means  of  communication  with  the  whites  over  imagined 
grievances,  he  has  brightened  his  countenance,  smiled  and  sung  to  ease  his 
mind.  In  the  midst  of  it  all  he  is  unable  to  harmonize  with  the  practices  of 
daily  life  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  which  the  white  Christian  placed  in 
his  hands.  He  finds  it  difficult  to  harmonize  the  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  his  faith  is  put  to  the  test  in  the  Providence 
which  enslaved  his  ancestors,  corrupted  his  blood  and  placed  upon  him 
stigmas  more  damaging  than  to  be  a  leper  or  convict  by  making  his  color 
a  badge  of  infamy  and  his  preordained  social  position  at  the  bottom  of 
human  society.  So  firmly  has  his  status  been  fixed  by  this  Providence  that 
neither  moral  worth,  fidelity  to  trust,  love  of  home,  loyalty  to  country,  or 
faith  in  God  can  raise  him  to  human  recognition. 

When  he  remembers  that  he  has  been  the  beast  of  burden  of  southern 
civilization  and  the  foundation  of  its  luxuriant  ease,  when  he  rehearses  to 
his  children  that  he  was  the  South's  sole  dependence  when  his  master  was 
away  repelling  hostile  armies,  and  how  he  worked  by  day  and  guarded  his 
unprotected  mistress  and  her  children  at  night,  or  accompanied  his  master 
to  the  swamps  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  and  bound  up  his  wounds  or 
brought  his  maimed  or  dead  body  home  on  his  shoulders,  these  children 
can  not  understand  the  attitude  of  the  South  toward  them.  They  do  not 
understand  why  they  have  not  been  educated  to  efficiency  and  employed  to 
the  best  interest  of  the  South.  They  do  not  understand  why  they  have  not 
been  given  better  living  conditions,  a  more  equitable  division  of  funds  appro- 
priated for  the  education  of  the  youth,  nor  provisions  made  for  their  higher 
or  professional  training,  or  why  so  much  prejudice  is  engendered  in  the 
practice  of  these  professions  among  their  own  people.  They  do  not  under- 
stand why  they  have  been  made  to  toil  at  starvation  wages  and  to  pay 
hea\'y  fines  and  suffer  long  prison  sentences  for  stealing  food  and  clothing. 
They  do  not  understand  why  no  estimate  is  placed  upon  negro  virtue  and 
the  full  rights  of  citizenship  are  denied  to  negroes  of  education,  character 
and  worth.  If  some  mysterious  Providence  has  ordained  that  they  support 
themselves  and  employers  by  farming,  they  do  not  understand  why  they  are 
deprived  of  agricultural  schools.  They  do  not  see  why  mere  prejudice 
would  prevent  them  from  obtaining  a  square  deal  when  contending  for  the 

1  Mr.  Charles  S.  Johnson  reports  the  following  from  Mississippi : 
"  The  police  of  most  of  the  cities  are  rough  and  indiscriminate  in  their 
treatment  of  negroes.  At  the  depot  during  the  summer,  on  several  occa- 
sions, negro  porters  were  severely  beaten  by  policemen  for  trivial  reasons. 
This,  it  was  said,  started  a  stream  of  young  men  that  cleaned  the  town  of 
porters. 

"  Fee  constables  made  their  living  from  arresting  negroes,  indiscriminately, 
on  trivial  charges.  A  white  man,  to  whom  a  prominent  negro  physician  had 
gone  for  advice  on  a  case  concerning  his  arrest  on  a  charge  of  having  no 
lights  on  his  automobile,  said,  '  If  I  were  a  negro,  I  would  rather  appear 
before  a  Russian  court  than  come  before  a  court  here  for  trial.' " 


24  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

possessions  of  life,  liberty  and  property.  They  do  not  understand  why 
they  are  not  protected  from  petty  peace  officers  in  search  of  fees  and  from 
mobs  while  in  the  hands  of  officers  of  the  law.  Finally,  they  do  not  under- 
stand why  there  is  so  little  genuine  sympathy  and  brotherhood  between 
them  and  the  only  people  they  know — the  people  whose  language  and  cus- 
toms they  use,  under  whose  laws  they  live,  whose  Bible  they  read,  whose 
God  they  serve.  These  thoughts  possessed  the  negroes'  mind  when,  twelve 
months  ago,  the  boll  weevil  and  rains  destroyed  the  crops  in  the  South 
and  the  European  war  was  calling  foreigners  from  field  and  factory  in  the 
North.i 

One  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  two  generations  of  negroes 
living  in  the  South  are  affected  differently  by  the  measures  of 
control  of  the  whites,  and  in  many  cases  respond  differently  to 
treatment  received.  The  older  generation  of  whites  and  blacks 
avoided  much  friction  by  a  sort  of  mutual  understanding.  The 
children  of  colored  and  white  parents  come  less  frequently  into 
friendly  contact  and  find  it  difficult  to  live  together  on  the 
terms  accepted  by  their  fathers.  Negro  parents  appreciate  this 
situation  but,  although  admitting  that  they  can  tolerate  the 
position  to  which  they  are  assigned,  they  do  not  welcome  such 
an  arrangement  for  their  children.  For  this  reason  they  are 
not  reluctant  to  send  their  sons  away  from  home.  Should  the 
children  remain  there,  they  live  in  a  state  of  anxiety  for  their 
safety.  They  would  not  have  them  grow  up  as  they,  en- 
compassed by  restraints,  and  the  young  men  themselves  appear 
to  entertain  toward  the  prevailing  system  a  more  aggressive 
hostility. 

A  woman  of  color  in  Greenville,  Mississippi,  for  example, 
had  a  son  in  a  northern  State  and  was  afraid  to  invite  him 
home  to  pay  a  visit  because,  as  she  stated,  "  for  him  to  accept 
the  same  abuses  to  which  we,  his  parents,  are  accustomed,  would 
make  him  much  less  than  the  man  we  would  have  him  be." 
Another  negro,  a  physician,  the  "  Nestor  "  of  his  profession, 
having  practiced  in  his  State  over  thirty-five  years,  said : 

Sir,  I  can't  expect  my  son  to  accept  the  treatment  under  which  I  have 
been  brought  up.  My  length  of  residence  here  and  the  number  of  friends 
whom  I  know  of  the  older  and  more  aristocratic  type  of  whites  will  protect 

^  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 


CAUSES    OF    THE    MIGRATION  25 

me,  but  as  for  him,  there  is  no  friendship.  Now,  as  for  me,  there  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  leave.  I  am  making  as  much  money  as  I  could 
anywhere  else  and  all  of  the  white  people  respect  me.  But  I  am  just  one 
out  of  a  thousand.    The  younger  men  have  neither  my  contact  nor  influence. 

A  lawyer  of  remarkable  talent  formerly  of  Mississippi,  now 
living  with  his  children  in  Chicago,  who  had  felt  keenly  this 
humiliation  and  recognized  it  as  one  of  the  motives  behind  his 
change  of  residence,  thus  stated  the  situation: 

One  peculiar  phase  of  the  white  southern  prejudice  is  that  no  matter 
how  well  liked  or  popular  a  colored  man  be  in  any  community,  his  son 
does  not  share  that  popularity  unless  he  enters  a  field  of  endeavor  dis- 
tinctly lower  in  the  scale  than  that  occupied  by  his  parent.  My  experience 
goes  both  ways  on  this  subject.  My  stepfather  was  a  dearly  beloved  colored 
man  of  the  old  school,  but  when  he  sent  me  off  to  Oberlin  College  I 
returned  to  find  that  the  community  in  which  I  had  been  beloved  as  a  boy 
in  attendance  at  the  rude  country  school  looked  at  me  askance.  It  took 
twenty  years  to  overcome  the  handicap  of  attempting  to  occupy  a  higher 
sphere  than  that  to  which  the  community  thought  it  right  to  assign  me. 
My  experiences  were  repeated  by  my  son.  He  was  a  well  liked  boy  by 
the  best  people  in  a  city  of  about  twenty-five  thousand,  because  he  was  my 
son  and  was  polite  and  agreeable.  When  he  went  to  a  nearby  Mississippi 
college  and  worked  in  his  summer  vacations  in  a  local  industrial  plant,  they 
still  thought  well  of  him,  but  when  it  was  learned  that  he  was  being  gradu- 
ated at  Oberlin  College,  and  his  picture  appeared  in  a  college  year  book, 
among  others,  my  intimate  white  friends  wanted  to  know  the  necessity  for 
so  much  education  and,  with  a  shrug  of  the  shoulder,  they  let  all  mention 
of  him  drop,  as  if  he  had  offended  the  most  sacred  laws  of  the  community. 
This  spirit  appeared  so  marked  that  I  did  not  have  him  come  back  to  visit 
his  mother  and  me  during  the  summer  vacation.  I  have  seen  the  same  spirit 
in  many  instances.     No  man  can  explain  why  it  is,  but  it  is  so.^ 

1  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 


CHAPTER  III 
Stimulation  of  the  Movement 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  exodus  grew  so  contagious  when 
viewed  in  the  hght  of  the  numerous  factors  which  played  a  part 
in  influencing  its  extension.  Considering  the  temper  of  the 
South  and  its  attitude  toward  any  attempt  to  reduce  its  labor 
supply,  it  is  readily  apparent  that  leaders  who  openly  encour- 
aged the  exodus  would  be  in  personal  danger.  There  were,  of 
course,  some  few  who  did  venture  to  voice  their  belief  in  it, 
but  they  were  in  most  cases  speedily  silenced.  A  Methodist 
minister  was  sent  to  jail  because  he  was  said  to  have  been  en- 
ticing laborers  to  go  north  and  work  for  a  New  York  firm, 
which  would  give  employment  to  fifty  of  his  people.  The  tactics 
adopted  by  influential  persons  who  favored  the  movement,  there- 
fore, were  of  necessity  covert  and  very  much  guarded. 

One  of  the  chief  stimuli  was  discussion.  The  very  fact  that 
negroes  were  leaving  in  large  numbers  was  a  disturbing  factor. 
The  talk  in  the  barber  shops  and  grocery  stores  where  men 
were  wont  to  assemble  soon  began  to  take  the  form  of  reasons 
for  leaving.  There  it  was  the  custom  to  review  all  the  instances 
of  mistreatment  and  injustice  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  negro 
in  the  South.  It  was  here  also  that  letters  from  the  North  were 
read  and  fresh  news  on  the  exodus  was  first  given  out.  In 
Hattiesburg,  Mississippi,  it  was  stated  that  for  a  while  there 
was  no  subject  of  discussion  but  the  migration.  "  The  packing 
houses  in  Chicago  for  a  while  seemed  to  be  everything,"  said 
one  negro.  "  You  could  not  rest  in  your  bed  at  night  for 
Chicago."  Chicago  came  to  be  so  common  a  word  that  they 
began  to  call  it  "  Chi."  Men  went  down  to  talk  with  the 
Chicago  porters  on  the  Gulf  and  Ship  Island  Railroad  which  ran 

26 


STIMULATION    OF    THE    MOVEMENT  27 

through  the  town.  They  asked  questions  about  the  weather  in 
Chicago.    The  report  was  that  it  was  the  same  as  in  Hattiesburg.* 

In  every  circle  the  advisabihty  of  leaving  was  debated.  In 
the  churches  the  pastors,  seeing  their  flocks  leaving,  at  first 
attempted  to  dissuade  them.  The  people  refused  to  come  to 
church.  In  the  church  meetings  there  were  verbal  clashes  on 
the  matter  of  the  attitude  toward  the  migration.  Some  few  had 
been  careful  enough  to  go  north  and  investigate  for  themselves 
and  friends.  A  man  learned  of  the  North  through  a  friend 
whose  relatives  wrote  him  from  that  section.  He,  thereupon, 
decided  to  pay  a  visit  of  two  weeks,  going  in  August.  The 
attitude  of  the  North  overwhelmed  him.  At  Fulton,  Kentucky, 
while  he  was  on  the  train  a  white  man  was  sitting  in  front  of 
him.  He  wanted  to  ask  him  a  question  but  hesitated  fearing 
that  he  would  be  rebuffed.  He  finally  addressed  the  stranger, 
who  answered  him  courteously  and  kindly,  calling  his  attention 
to  other  points  of  interest  in  the  North.  At  Gary,  Indiana,  he 
met  a  gentleman  who  said  he  had  been  mayor  of  Gary  for 
seven  years.  He  described  the  Gary  school  system  and  prom- 
ised him  an  education  for  his  children.  He  was  assured  em- 
ployment at  $4  a  day  for  eight  hours'  work.- 

A  still  more  powerful,  though  insidious  factor,  was  the  work 
of  public  speakers  who  hid  their  intentions  behind  their  unique 
method  of  presentation.  In  a  lecture  on  the  question  of  migra- 
tion a  speaker,  who  is  a  widely  known  character,  made  these 
remarks : 

So  many  of  my  folks  are  leaving  that  I  thought  I'd  go  up  and  see 
whether  or  not  they  had  made  a  mistake.  I  found  thousands  of  old  friends 
up  there  making  more  money  than  they'd  ever  made  in  their  hves.  I  said 
to  one  woman  in  Chicago,   "  Well,   Sister  ^— ,  I  see  you're  here."     "  Yes, 

Brother  ,  I'm  here,  thank  the  Lord."     "Do  you  find  it  any  colder  up 

here  than  it  was  in  Mississippi:-"'  "Did  I  understand  you  correctly  to  say 
cold?  Honey,  I  mean  it's  cold.  It  is  some  cold."  "But  you  expect  to 
return,  don't  you?"  "Don't  play  with  me,  chile.  What  am  I  going  to 
return  for?  I  should  say  not.  Up  here  you  see  when  I  come  out  on  the 
street  I  walk  on  nice  smooth  pavements.  Down  home  I  got  to  walk  home 
through  the  mud.     Up  here  at  nights  it  don't  matter  much  about  coming 

^  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 
2  Ibid. 


28  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

home   from  church.     Down   home   on   my   street  there  ain't  a   single   lamp 
post.     And  say,  honey,  I  got  a  bath  tub !  "  ^ 

He  related  the  instance  of  his  visit  to  an  automobile  plant 
where  he  was  met  at  the  door  by  a  "  stalwart,  handsome,  six- 
footer  as  black  as  midnight."  He  asked  his  companion  the 
name  of  this  "  potentate."  He  was  told  that  this  man  was 
an  experienced  machinist.  Every  car  that  passed  out  of  that 
plant  must  have  his  O.  K.  He  added  further  that  his  salary 
was  something-  like  $100  a  week  and  that  the  incident  showed 
the  unlimited  chance  for  expansion  in  the  North.  When  he 
began  to  enumerate  some  of  the  positions  which  "  men  of  the 
race "  were  holding,  the  audience  became  enthusiastic  beyond 
control.  One  man  in  the  audience,  who  had  been  to  Detroit, 
could  restrain  himself  no  longer  and  stood  up  to  inform  the 
audience  that  there  were  also  colored  street  car  conductors  and 
motormen  and  that  he  had  seen  them  with  his  own  eyes.  The 
speaker  paid  no  attention  to  this  interruption  and  the  audience 
appeared  not  to  notice  it,  but  began  to  exchange  reports  among 
themselves.  The  speaker  added  that  he  had  found  negroes  in 
the  North,  well  dressed  and  looking  like  men — for  the  first  time 
in  their  lives — men  who  were  simply  "  bums  "  at  home.  In 
excusing  the  indisposition  of  some  negroes  toward  work,  he 
said,  "  How  in  the  world  can  you  expect  a  man  to  work  faith- 
fully all  day  long  for  fifty  cents?  "  - 

Among  the  important  stimuli  were  the  rumors  in  circulation. 
When  a  community  is  wrought  up,  it  is  less  difficult  to  believe 
remarkable  tales.  To  persons  beyond  the  influence  of  this  ex- 
citement it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  conceive  how  the  rumor  that 
the  Germans  were  on  their  way  through  Texas  to  take  the 
southern  States  could  have  been  believed.  And  yet  it  is  re- 
ported that  this  extravagant  fiction  was  taken  seriously  in  some 
quarters.  On  the  outskirts  of  Meridian,  Mississippi,  a  band  of 
gypsies  was  encamped.  The  rumor  gained  circulation  that  the 
Indians  were  coming  back  to  retake  their  land  lost  years  ago. 
It  was   further   rumored   that   the   United   States   Government 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 

2  Ibid. 


STIMULATION    OF    THE    MOVEMENT  29 

was  beginning  a  scheme  to  transport  all  negroes  from  the  South 
to  break  up  the  Black  Belt.  Passed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  un- 
restrainedly these  reports  became  verities. 

It  was  further  asserted  on  the  word  and  honor  "of  one  in 
position  to  know  "  that  the  Chicago  packing  houses  needed  and 
would  get  fifty  thousand  negroes  before  the  end  of  the  year. 
One  explanation  of  the  belief  that  the  South  was  overrun  with 
labor  agents  was  the  fact  that  every  strange  face  came  to  be 
recognized  as  a  man  from  the  North  looking  for  laborers. 
If  he  denied  it,  they  simply  thought  he  was  concealing  his  iden- 
tity from  the  police,  and  if  he  said  nothing,  his  silence  was  re- 
garded as  sufficient  affirmation.  Hundreds  of  disappointments 
are  to  be  traced  to  the  rumor  that  a  train  would  leave  on  a 
certain  date.  Hundreds  would  come  to  the  station  prepared  to 
leave  and,  when  no  agent  appeared,  purchased  their  own  tickets. 

The  questions  of  wages  and  privileges  were  grossly  featured. 
Some  men,  on  being  questioned,  supposed  that  it  was  possible 
for  every  common  laborer  to  receive  from  $4  to  $10  a  day,  and 
that  $50  a  week  was  not  an  unusual  wage.  The  strength  of  this 
belief  has  been  remarked  by  several  social  agencies  in  the  North 
which  attempted  to  supply  the  immigrants  with  work.  The 
actual  wages  paid,  though  much  in  excess  of  those  they  had 
been  receiving,  were  often  disappointing.  Similarly  in  the  mat- 
ter of  privilege  and  "  rights "  it  was  later  revealed  that  un- 
bounded liberty  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  North.  The  singular 
cases  of  misconduct,  against  which  the  more  sober  minded 
preached,  possibly  had  their  root  in  the  beautiful  and  one-sided 
pictures  of  the  North  which  came  to  the  South. 

The  Chicago  Defend c^r,  a  weekly  negro  newspaper,  with  its 
pronounced  radical  utterances,  its  criticism  of  the  South,  its 
policy  of   retaliation,   etc.,  contributed  greatly  to  the  exodus.^ 

1  Some  of  the  material  prepared  by  the  Defender  for  consumption  in  the 
South  was  as  follows : 

"Turn  a  deaf  ear  to  everybody.  You  see  they  are  not  lifting  their  laws 
to  help  you,  are  they?  Have  they  stopped  their  Jim  Crow  cars?  Can  you 
buy  a  Pullman  sleeper  where  you  wish?  Will  they  give  you  a  square  deal 
in  court  yet?  When  a  girl  is  sent  to  prison  she  becomes  the  mistress  of  the 
guards  and  others  in  authority,  and  women  prisoners  are  put  on  the  streets 
to   work — something  they   don't   do   to   a   white   woman.     And   our   leaders 


30  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

Its  influence  can  be  imagined  when,  after  reading  the  southern 
white  papers  with  only  occasional  references  to  the  negroes 
which  might  be  called  commendable  and  numerous  articles  which 
were  for  the  most  part  distasteful,  negroes  could  read  the  things 
they  wanted  to  hear  most,  expressed  in  a  manner  in  which  they 
would  not  dare  express  them.  It  voiced  the  unexpressed  thoughts 
of  many  and  made  accusations  for  which  they  themselves  would 
have  been  severely  handled.  Freud's  theory  of  the  suppressed 
wish  finds  a  happy  illustration  in  this  rage  over  the  Chicago  De- 
fender. Expressed  in  terms  of  figures,  the  circulation  of  the 
paper  at  the  beginning  of  the  movement  was  something  like 
50,000.  In  1918  it  had  grown  to  125,000.  It  had  a  large  cir- 
culation in  Mississippi  and  the  supply  was  usually  bought  up 
on  the  first  day  of  its  arrival.  Copies  were  passed  around  until 
worn  out.  One  prominent  negro  asserted  that  "  negroes  grab 
the  Defender  like  a  hungry  mule  grabs  fodder."  In  Gulfport, 
Mississippi,  a  man  was  regarded  "  intelligent  "  if  he  read  the 
Defender.  It  was  said  that  in  Laurel,  Mississippi,  old  men  who 
did  not  know  how  to  read  would  buy  it  because  it  was  regarded 
as  precious. 

It  was  this  paper  that  named  the  exodus  "  The  Great  Northern 
Drive,"  and  set  the  date  May  15th,  announced  the  arrivals  and 
took  responsibility  for  inducing  "  the  poor  brethren "  from 
the  South.  It  was  accused  of  ruining  Hattiesburg,  Mississippi, 
by  promoting  this  rush  to  the  North.  The  sale  of  this  paper 
was,  therefore,  forbidden  in  several  towns  in  the  South.  A 
correspondent  said :  "  White  people  are  paying  more  attention 
to  the  race  in  order  to  keep  them  in  the  South,  but  the  Chicago 
Defender  has  emblazoned  upon  their  minds  '  Bound  for  the 
Promised  Land.' " 


will  tell  you  the  South  is  the  best  place  for  you.  Turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
scoundrel,  and  let  him  stay.  Above  all,  see  to  it  that  that  jumping-jack 
preacher  is  left  in  the  South,  for  he  means  you  no  good  here  in  the 
North.  .  .  .  Once  upon  a  time  we  permitted  other  people  to  think  for  us — 
today  we  are  thinking  and  acting  for  ourselves,  with  the  result  that  our 
'  friends  '  are  getting  alarmed  at  our  progress.  We'd  like  to  oblige  these 
unselfish  (?)  souls  and  remain  slaves  in  the  South;  but  to  other  sections 
of  the  country  we  have  said,  as  the  song  goes,  '  I  hear  you  calling  me,'  and 
have  boarded  the  train,  singing,  '  Good-bye,  Dixie  Land.' " 


STIMULATION    OF    THE    MOVEMENT  31 

In  answer  to  the  warnings  of  the  South  against  the  rigors  of 
the  northern  winters,  the  Defender  said: 

To  die  from  the  bite  of  frost  is  far  more  glorious  than  at  the  hands  of  a 
mob.  I  beg  you,  my  brother,  to  leave  the  benighted  land.  You  are  a  free 
man.  Show  the  world  that  you  will  not  let  false  leaders  lead  you.  Your  neck 
has  been  in  the  yoke.  Will  you  continue  to  keep  it  there  because  some  "  white 
folks'  nigger"  wants  you  to?  Leave  for  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  Get  out 
of  the  South.  Your  being  there  in  the  numbers  in  which  you  are  gives  the 
southern  politician  too  strong  a  hold  on  your  progress.  ...  So  much  has 
been  said  through  the  white  papers  in  the  South  abciit  the  members  of  the 
race  freezing  to  death  in  the  North.  They  freeze  to  death  down  South 
when  they  don't  take  care  of  themselves.  There  is  no  reason  for  any  human 
being  staying  in  the  Southland  on  this  bugaboo  handed  out  by  the  white 
press.'^ 

If  you  can  freeze  to  death  in  the  North  and  be  free,  why  freeze  to  death 
in  the  South  and  be  a  slave,  where  your  mother,  sister  and  daughter  are 
raped  and  burned  at  the  stake ;  where  your  father,  brother  and  sons  are 
treated  with  contempt  and  hung  to  a  pole,  riddled  with  bullets  at  the  least 
mention  that  he  does  not  like  the  way  he  is  treated.  Come  North  then,  all 
you  folks,  both  good  and  bad.  If  you  don't  behave  yourselves  up  here,  the 
jails  will  certainly  make  you  wish  you  had.  For  the  hard-working  man 
there  is  plenty  of  work — if  you  really  want  it.    The  Defender  says  come.^ 

^  The  following  clippings  are  taken  from  these  white  papers : 

"  Aged  Negro  Frozen  to  Death — Albany,  Ga.,  February  8. 

"  Yesterday  the  dead  body  of  Peter  Crowder,  an  old  negro,  was  found  in 
an  out-of-the-way  place  where  he  had  been  frozen  to  death  during  the  recent 
cold  snap." — Macon  Telegraph. 

"  Dies  from  Exposure — Spartanburg,  S.  C.,  February  6. 

"  Marshall  Jackson,  a  negro  man,  who  lived  on  the  farm  of  J.  T.  Harris 
near  Campobello,  Sunday  night  froze  to  death." — South  Carolina  State. 

"  Negro  Frozen  to  Death  in  Fireless  Gretna  Hut. 

"  Coldest  weather  in  the  last  four  years  claimed  a  victim  Friday  night, 
when  Archie  Williams,  a  negro,  was  frozen  to  death  in  his  bed  in  a  little 
hut  in  the  outskirts  of  Gretna." — New  Orleans  Item,  February  4. 

"  Negro  Woman  Frozen  to  Death  Monday. 

"  Harriet  Tolbert,  an  aged  negro  woman,  was  frozen  to  death  in  her  home 
at  18  Garibaldi  Street  early  Monday  morning  during  the  severe  cold." — 
Atlanta  Constitution,  February  6. 

2  Articles  such  as  the  following  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  the  exodus : 

"  Tampa,  Florida,  January  19.  J.  T.  King,  supposed  to  be  a  race  leader, 
is  using  his  wits  to  get  on  the  good  side  of  the  white  people  by  calling  a 
meeting  to  urge  our  people  not  to  migrate  north.  Kjng  has  been  termed 
a  '  good  nigger  '  by  his  pernicious  activity  on  the  emigration  question.  Re- 
ports have  been  received  here  that  all  who  have  gone  north  are  at  work 
and  pleased  witli  the  splendid  conditions  in  the  North.  It  is  known  here 
that  in  the  North  there  is  a  scarcity  of  labor;  mills  and  factories  are  open 
to  them.  People  are  not  paying  any  attention  to  King  and  are  packing  and 
ready  to  travel  north  to  the  'promised  land.'" 

"Jackson,  Miss.,  March  23.  J.  H.  Thomas,  Birmingham,  Alabama,  Browns- 
ville Colony,  has  been  here  several  weeks  and  is  very  much  pleased  with 


32  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

The  idea  that  the  South  is  a  bad  place,  unfit  for  the  habitation 
of  colored  folk,  was  duly  emphasized.  Conditions  most  dis- 
tasteful to  negroes  were  exaggerated  and  given  first  prominence. 
In  this  the  Defender  had  a  clear  field,  for  the  local  colored 
newspapers  dared  not  make  such  unrestrained  utterances.^     In 

the  North.  He  is  working  at  the  Pullman  Shops,  making  twice  as  much  as 
he  did  at  home.  Mr.  Thomas  says  the  '  exodus '  will  be  greater  later  on  in 
the  year,  that  he  did  not  find  four  feet  of  snow  or  would  freeze  to  death. 
He  lives  at  346  East  Thirty-fifth  St." 

"  Huntsville,  Alabama,  January  19.  Fifteen  families,  all  members  of  the 
race,  left  here  today  for  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  where  they  will  take  positions  as 
butlers  and  maids,  getting  sixty  to  seventy-five  dollars  a  month  against 
fifteen  and  twenty  paid  here.  Most  of  them  claim  that  they  have  letters 
from  their  friends  who  went  early  and  made  good  saying  that  there  was 
plenty  of  work,  and  this  field  of  labor  is  short  owing  to  the  vast  amount  of 
men  having  gone  to  Europe  and  not  returned." 

"  Shreveport,  La.,  April  13.  The  Business  Men's  League  held  a  meeting 
here  and  the  white  daily  papers  reported  that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of 
discouraging  people  from  going  north.  The  meeting  had  no  such  object.  On 
the  other  hand,  members  of  the  race  claim  that  on  May  15th  they  will  be 
found  leaving  with  the  great  northern  drive." 

"  The  northern  invasion  has  already  started,  much  earlier  than  predicted. 
Many  members  of  the  race  refused  to  wait  until  spring.  They  have  started 
despite  the  snow  and  cold.  Last  week  thirty-one  came  here  from  Hatties- 
burg,  Mississippi,  and  said  they  intended  to  stay.  They  were  well  clothed, 
having  heavy  overcoats  and  rubber  overshoes." 

"  Memphis,  Tenn.,  June  1.  Your  correspondent  took  a  walk  to  Central 
station  Saturday  night  just  to  see  what  was  going  on,  and  to  his  surprise 
and  delight,  he  saw  gathered  there  between  1,500  and  2,000  race  men  and 
women.  Number  4,  due  to  leave  for  Chicago  at  8 :00  o'clock,  was  held  up 
twenty  minutes  so  that  those  people  who  hadn't  purchased  tickets  might  be 
taken  aboard.  It  was  necessary  to  add  two  additional  eighty-foot  steel 
coaches  to  the  Chicago  train  in  order  to  accommodate  the  race  people,  and 
at  the  lowest  calculation  there  were  more  than  1,200  taken  aboard." 

"St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  11.  The  Defender  propaganda  to  leave  sections  of 
the  South  where  they  find  conditions  intolerable  is  receiving  a  hearty 
response.  A  communication  was  received  by  a  Defender  representative  last 
week  from  Houston,  Texas,  asking  for  information  relative  to  conditions 
in  this  city  and  the  writer  stated  a  number  of  persons  were  planning  to 
leave  Houston  for  this  city  later  on.  The  information  was  promptly  and 
cheerfully  given." 

"  Tallulah,  La.,  January  19.  This  time  it's  a  professor.  Heretofore  it 
has  been  the  preachers  who  have  been  paid  by  the  white  men  of  the  South 
to  tell  our  people  that  the  North  is  no  place  for  them.  A  bigger  lie  never 
was  uttered.  But  now  it  is  a  professor.  He  is  licking  the  white  man's  hand 
to  hold  a  little  $35  job  as  a  backwoods  school  teacher.  He  got  his  name  in 
the  papers  (white)  as  'good  nigger.'  Just  because  this  'would-be  pro- 
fessor '  has  been  making  speeches,  asking  that  our  people  remain  here  and 
be  treated  like  dogs,  they  are  starting  a  crusade  north,  and  by  Easter  there 
will  not  be  one  left  to  tell  the  tale." 

1 "  Forest  City,  Ark.,  February  16.  David  B.  Smith  (white)  is  on  trial 
for  life  for  the  brutal  murder  of  a  member  of  the  race,  W.  H.  Winford. 
who  refused  to  be  whipped  like  others.  This  white  man  had  the  habit  of 
making  his  '  slave '  submit  to  this  sort  of  punishment  and  when  Winford 


STIMULATION    OF    THE    MOVEMENT  33 

fact,  reading  the  Chicago  Defender  provided  a  very  good  sub- 
stitute for  the  knowledge  which  comes  through  travel.  It  had 
the  advantage  of  bringing  the  North  to  them.  Without  fear 
of  exaggeration  it  is  safe  to  say  its  policy  was  successful  in 
inciting  thousands  of  restless  negroes  to  venture  north,  where 
they  were  assured  of  its  protection  and  the  championship  of  their 
cause.  There  are  in  Chicago  migrants  who  attribute  their  pres- 
ence in  the  North  to  its  encouraging  pictures  of  relief  from 
conditions  at  home  with  which  they  became  more  and  more 
dissatisfied,  as  they  read. 

The  setting  of  a  definite  date  was  another  stimulus.  The 
great  northern  drive  was  scheduled  to  begin  May  15,  1917. 
This  date,  or  the  week  following,  singularly  corresponds  with 
the  date  of  the  heaviest  rush  to  the  North,  the  periods  of  greatest 
temporary  congestion  and  the  awakening  of  the  North  to  the 
presence  of  their  guests.  Letters  to  the  Chicago  Defender  and 
to  the  social  agencies  in  the  North  informed  them  that  they 
were  preparing  to  come  in  the  great  drive.  One  of  many  such 
letters  received  is  presented. 

April  24,  1917. 
Mr.  R.  S.  Abbott, 

Editor,  the  Chicago  Defender, 
Sir: 

I  have  been  reading  the  Defender  for  one  year  or  more,  and  last  February 
I  read  about  the  great  northern  drive  to  take  place  May  15,  on  Thursday, 
and  now  I  can  hear  so  many  people  speaking  of  an  excursion  to  the  North 
on  the  15th  of  ]\Iay  for  $3.  My  husband  is  in  the  North  already  working, 
and  he  wants  us  to  come  up  in  May,  so  I  want  to  know  if  it  is  true  about 
the  excursion.  I  am  getting  ready  and,  oh,  so  many  others  also,  and  we 
want  to  know  is  that  true  so  we  can  be  in  the  drive.  So  please  answer  at 
once.    We  are  getting  ready. 

Yours, 

This  was  perhaps  the  most  popular  date,  but  there  were  others, 
of  which  August  15  was  one.  Usually  the  dates  set  were  for 
Wednesday  and  Saturday  nights,  following  pay  days. 

refused  to  stand  for  it,  he  was  whipped  to  death  with  a  '  black  snake  '  whip. 
The  trial  of  Smith  is  attracting  very  little  attention.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  white  people  here  think  nothing  of  it  as  the  dead  man  is  a  '  nigger.' 
This  very  act.  coupled  with  other  recent  outrages  that  have  been  heaped 
upon  our  people,  are  causing  thousands  to  leave,  not  waiting  for  the  great 
spring  movement  in  May." 


34  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

Personal  appeals  in  the  form  of  letters  have  a  recognized 
weight  in  influencing  action.  The  United  States  mail  was  about 
the  most  active  and  efficient  labor  agent.  The  manner  in  which 
the  first  negroes  left  made  great  opportunities  for  letter  writing. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  departure  of  one  person  was  re- 
garded always  in  the  light  of  an  experiment.  The  understanding 
existed  between  a  man  and  his  friends  that  he  would  honestly 
inform  them  of  conditions  in  the  North.  Letters  were  passed 
around  and  read  before  large  groups.  A  woman  from  Hatties- 
burg  is  accredited  with  having  sent  back  a  letter  which  enticed 
away  over  200  persons.  A  tailor  who  had  settled  in  a  town 
of  white  people  in  the  West  wrote  a  letter  which  was  read  in 
a  church.  It  explained  the  advantages  of  the  free  schools  open 
to  all,  and  the  privilege  to  ride  and  to  go  where  one  pleases. 
The  reading  of  the  letter  brought  forth  long  and  loud  applause. 
A  man  who  had  left  home,  writes  back  to  his  friend  yet  un- 
decided : 

Mike,  old  boy,  I  was  promoted  on  the  first  of  the  month.  I  was  made 
first  assistant  to  the  head  carpenter.  When  he  is  out  of  place  I  take  every- 
thing in  charge  and  was  raised  to  $95  per  month.  You  know  I  know  my 
stuff.  What's  the  news  generally  around  H'burg?  I  should  have  been 
here  twenty  years  ago.  I  just  begin  to  feel  like  a  man.  It's  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  in  knowing  that  you  have  got  some  privileges.  My  children  are 
going  to  the  same  school  with  the  whites  and  I  don't  have  to  humble  to 
no  one.  I  have  registered.  Will  vote  the  next  election  and  there  isn't  any 
'  yes,  sir,  and  no,  sir.'     It's  all  yes  and  no,  and  no,  Sam,  and  Bill. 

The  man  has  long  since  been  joined  by  his  friend. 

The  pastor  of  a  Hattiesburg  church  received  a  letter  from 
one  of  his  members  with  the  extravagant  assertion  that  the 
people  whose  funerals  he  had  preached  were  in  Chicago  (mean- 
ing Heaven)  because  they  were  good  Christians.  To  give  as- 
surance on  the  question  of  weather  migrants  in  the  North  would 
mention  the  fact  that  they  were  writing  with  their  coats  ofif. 
A  fact  which  strengthened  the  belief  in  the  almost  incredible 
wages  offered  in  the  North  was  the  money  sent  back  to  the 
families  in  the  South.  A  man  whose  wife  had  preceded  him 
wrote  that  she  was  making  $3.50  a  day  in  charge  of  a  bluing 
works  in  Chicago,  and  actually  sent  home  $15  every  two  weeks. 


STIMULATION    OF    THE    MOVEMENT  35 

Another  man  wrote  that  he  was  in  Gary  working  at  his  trade 
making  sometimes  as  much  as  $7  a  day.  He  sent  home  $30 
every  two  weeks.  Fully  one-half,  or  perhaps  even  more  of 
those  who  left,  did  so  at  the  solicitation  of  friends  through 
correspondence.^ 

Despite  the  restraints  on  loose  talk  in  encouragement  of 
the  exodus,  there  were  other  means  of  keeping  the  subject  alive. 
One  method,  of  course,  was  the  circulation  of  literature  from 
the  North.  One  of  the  most  novel  schemes  was  that  of  a 
negro  dentist  in  a  southern  town  who  had  printed  on  the  reverse 
side  of  his  business  cards  quotations  from  rather  positive  asser- 
tions by  northerners  on  the  migration."     The  northern   press 

1  Johnson,  Report  on   the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 

-  "  There  is  no  class  of  people  and  no  ethical  question  that  will  not  feel 
the  effects  of  the  war.  The  negroes  of  this  country  who  go  to  France  to 
fight,  or  who  replace  workingmen  who  go  as  soldiers  will  demand,  and 
justly  so,  full  American  rights.  The  United  States  can  not  stand  before 
the  world  as  the  champion  of  freedom  and  democracy  and  continue  to  burn 
men  alive  and  lynch  them  without  fair  trial.  The  National  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Colored  People  calls  upon  this  country  to  '  clear  her 
conscience  before  she  can  fight  for  the  world's  good,'  by  abolishing  lynching 
and  ceasing  all  oppression  of  negroes.  This  is  a  national  problem  and  more 
particularly  one  of  the  South.  In  Europe  there  are  practically  no  race 
distinctions.  A  negro  can  mix  with  white  folk  as  an  equal,  just  as  a 
Spaniard,  for  example,  does  here;  even  intermarriage  is  not  regarded  as 
miscegenation.  The  race  problem  here  is  a  different  matter,  however,  as 
even  the  more  intelligent  negroes  themselves  will  acknowledge.  The  negro 
should  be  assured  all  the  protection  and  rights  that  go  with  American 
citizenship,  but  in  this  is  not  involved  intermarriage  or  social  equality." — 
Leslie's  Illustrated  Weekly,  October  13,  1917. 

"  The  foreign  laborer  has  been  called  home  to  bear  arms  for  his  country. 
The  daily  death  toll  and  waste  and  the  recently  enacted  immigration  law 
make  it  certain  that  he  will  not  soon  return  in  great  numbers.  As  a  result 
a  large  market  exists  for  the  negro  laborer  in  localities  in  which  he  would 
have  been  considered  an  impudent  trespasser  had  he  attempted  to  enter  a 
few  years  ago.  The  history  of  the  world  from  the  days  of  Moses  to  the 
present  shows  that  where  one  race  has  been  subjugated,  oppressed  or 
proscribed  by  another  and  exists  in  large  numbers,  permanent  relief  has 
come  in  one  or  two  ways — amalgamation  or  migration.  The  thought  of 
amalgamation  is  not  to  be  entertained.  If  conditions  in  the  South  for  the 
colored  man  are  to  be  permanently  improved,  many  of  those  who  now  live 
there  should  migrate  and  scatter  throughout  the  North,  East  and  West.  I 
believe  the  present  opportunity  providential." — Hon.  John  C.  Ashbury,  Phila- 
delphia Bar. 

"  This  is  the  psychological  moment  to  say  to  the  American  white  govern- 
ment from  every  pulpit  and  platform  and  through  every  newspaper,  '  Yes, 
we  are  loyal  and  patriotic.  Boston  Common,  Bunker  Hill,  Gettysburg,  Fort 
Pillow,  Appomattox,  San  Juan  Hill  and  Carrizal  will  testify  to  our  loyalty. 
"While  we  love  our  flag  and  country,  we  do  not  believe  in  fighting  for  the 
protection  of  commerce  on  the  high  seas  until  the  powers  that  be  give  us 
at  least  some  verbal  assurance  that  the  property  and  lives  of  the  members 


36  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

early  welcomed  the  much  needed  negro  laborers  to  the  North 
and  leaders  of  thought  in  that  section  began  to  upbraid  the 
South  for  its  antagonistic  attitude  towards  the  welfare  of  the 
negroes,  who  at  last  had  learned  to  seek  a  more  congenial  home. 
A  stronger  influence  than  this,  though  not  quite  so  frequent, 
was  the  returned  migrant  who  was  a  living  example  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  North.  It  was  a  frequent  complaint  that 
these  men  were  as  effective  as  labor  agents  in  urging  negro 
laborers  to  go  north.  There  are  reported  numerous  instances 
of  men  who  came  to  visit  their  families  and  returned  with  thirty 
to  forty  men.  It  has  been  suspected,  and  with  a  strong  sugges- 
tion of  truth,  that  many  of  these  were  supplied  with  funds  for 
the  trip  by  the  northern  firms  which  employed  them.  A  woman 
whose  daughter  had  gone  north  had  been  talking  of  her  daugh- 
ter's success.  The  reports  were  so  opposite  to  the  record  of 
the  girl  at  home  that  they  were  not  taken  seriously.  Soon,  how- 
ever, the  daughter  came  home  with  apparently  unlimited  money 
and  beautiful  clothes,  and  carried  her  mother  back  with  her. 
This  was  sufficient.  It  was  remarked  afterwards:  "If  she 
can  make  $2.50  a  day  as  lazy  as  she  was,  I  know  I  can  make 
$4."  ^ 

The  labor  agents  were  a  very  important  factor  in  stimulating 
the  movement.  The  number  at  work  in  the  South  appears  to 
have  been  greatly  exaggerated.  Agents  were  more  active  in 
large  cities  where  their  presence  w^as  not  so  conspicuous.  It 
was  difficult  to  discover  because  of  the  very  guarded  manner 
in  which  they  worked.  One,  for  example,  would  walk  briskly 
down  the  street  through  a  group  of  negroes  and,  without  turn- 

of  our  race  are  going  to  be  protected  on  land  from  Maine  to  Mississippi.' 
Let  us  have  the  courage  to  say  to  the  white  American  people,  '  Give  us  the 
same  rights  which  you  enjoy,  and  then  we  will  fight  by  your  side  with  all 
of  our  might  for  every  international  right  on  land  and  sea.'  If  this  kind 
of  talk  is  not  loyalty,  then  I  am  disloyal ;  if  this  is  not  patriotism,  then  I 
am  unpatriotic;  if  this  is  treason,  then  I  am  a  traitor.  It  is  not  that- 1  love 
Caesar  less,  but  these  black  Romans  more,  who  have  been  true  to  the  flag 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  It  is  infinitely  more  disgraceful  and 
outrageous  to  hang  and  burn  colored  men,  boys  and  women  without  a  trial 
in  the  times  of  peace  than  it  is  for  Germans  in  times  of  war  to  blow  up 
ships  loaded  with  mules  and  molasses." — Reverend  A.  Clayton  Powell,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


STIMULATION    OF    THE    MOVEMENT  37 

ing  his  head,  would  say  in  a  low  tone,  "  Anybody  want  to  go 
to  Chicago,  see  me."  That  was  sufficient.  Many  persons  were 
found  to  remark  frequently  on  the  strange  silence  which  negroes 
en  masse  managed  to  maintain  concerning  the  movement  of  the 
agents.  A  white  man  remarked  that  it  was  the  first  time  there 
had  ever  happened  anything  about  w^hich  he  could  not  get  full 
information  from  some  negro.  Agents  were  reported,  at  one 
time  or  another,  in  every  section  from  which  the  migrants 
went.  When  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities  restricted  their 
activities  they  began  working  through  the  mails.  Many  sections 
were  flooded  with  letters  from  the  North  to  persons  whose 
names  had  been  obtained  from  migrants  in  the  North  or  through 
a  quiet  canvass  of  the  community  by  unobstructed  solicitors.^ 

Poems  on  the  migration  were  also  strong  stimuli.  In  some 
instances  arrests  of  persons  circulating  them  were  made.  A 
bit  of  poetry  which  received  widespread  popularity  was  one 
called  "  Bound  for  the  Promised  Land."  It  was  said  that  this 
piece  of  poetry  was  responsible  for  much  trouble.  The  Chicago 
Defender  reported  on  June  1,  1917,  that  five  young  men  were 
arraigned  before  Judge  John  E.  Schwartz  of  Savannah,  Georgia, 
for  reading  poetry.  The  police  contended  that  they  were  in- 
citing riot  in  the  city  and  over  Georgia.  Two  of  the  men  were 
sent  for  thirty  days  to  Brown  Farm,  a  place  not  fit  for  human 
beings.  Tom  Amaca  was  arrested  for  having  "  Bound  for  the 
Promised  Land,"  a  poem  which  had  been  recently  published  in 
the  Defender.  J.  N.  Chisholm  and  A.  P.  Walker  were  arrested 
there  because  they  were  said  to  be  the  instigators.-  Another 
very  popular  poem  widely  circulated  was  entitled  "  Farewell ! 
We're  Good  and  Gone."  It  was  said  that  this  poem  influenced 
thousands  to  go.  Other  poems  on  the  migration  were  "  North- 
ward Bound,"  "  The  Land  of  Hope  "  and  "  Negro  Migration 
and  "  The  Reason  Why." 

1  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War, 

2  Ibid. 


}} 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Spread  of  the  Movement 

In  the  first  communities  visited  by  representatives  of  northern 
capital,  their  offers  created  unprecedented  commotion.  Drivers 
and  teamsters  left  their  wagons  standing  in  the  street.  Workers, 
returning  home,  scrambled  aboard  the  trains  for  the  North 
without  notifying  their  employers  or  their  families.  The  crowds 
that  blackened  the  pool  rooms  and  "  hangouts "  faded  away 
as  the  trains  continued  to  leave.  Wild  rumors  about  the  North 
crept  into  circulation  and  received  unquestioning  credence. 
Songs  about  Pennsylvania,  the  spontaneous  expression  of  anxi- 
ety and  joy  over  the  sudden  revelation  of  a  new  world,  floated 
about  on  the  lips  of  the  children.  Homes  were  thrown  on  the 
market  and  sold  at  ruinously  low  prices. 

It  was  observed  that  the  beginnings  in  each  new  community 
exhibited  the  same  characteristics.  This  is  due  in  part  to  a 
pretty  universal  state  of  unrest  among  negroes  throughout  the 
South,  Although  the  first  State  entered  by  representatives  of 
northern  capital  was  Florida,  their  efforts  were  not  confined 
to  that  commonwealth.  And  again,  although  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Erie  Railroads  were  the  first  to  import  negroes  in  large 
numbers,  they  were  not  alone  in  the  field  very  long.  The  steel 
mills  of  the  East  and  the  railroads  of  the  West  soon  followed — 
each  selecting  States  from  which  egress  was  easy  and  con- 
venient. The  authorities  of  the  cities  of  Florida,  when  they 
began  to  engage  themselves  in  the  suppression  of  recruiting 
agents,  succeeded  in  scattering  them  to  other  fields  where  their 
mere  presence,  preceded  as  it  was  by  the  news  of  their  mission 
in  the  South,  was  sufficient  to  attract,  first,  all  of  the  landless 
labor,  then  to  loosen  the  steady  workman  wedded  to  the  soil, 
and  finally  to  carry  away  the  best  of  the  working  classes.  Quite 
naturally  southeastern  Georgia  was  the  second  district  to  feel 

38 


THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    MOVEMENT  39 

the  drain  of  the  exodus.  These  workers  were  carried  into 
Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  New  Jersey  for  the  maintenance 
work  of  the  roads.  North  Carolina  was  next  entered;  then 
finally  Virginia  which  had  been  sending  many  negroes  into 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  for  a  number  of 
years/ 

Numerous  illustrations  show  the  popular  state  of  mind  at 
the  beginning,  when  every  one  was  feverish.  Men  would  loudly 
decry  the  folly  of  breaking  up  their  homes,  the  result  of  years 
of  unrelenting  toil,  and  venturing  into  the  unknown  North,  and 
within  less  than  twenty-four  hours,  would  leave  thernselves.  A 
good  citizen  would  talk  with  another  about  the  apparent  in- 
sanity of  those  negroes  who  had  "  contracted  the  northern  fever." 
They  would  condemn  their  acts  with  their  strongest  words. 
Hardly  before  another  day  could  pass,  one  of  the  two  would 
disappear,  having  imitated  the  recklessness  of  the  very  people 
he  had  so  recently  condemned. 

One  man  in  telling  of  how  they  acted,  asserts  "  You  could 
see  a  man  today  and  he  would  be  calling  the  people  who  were 
leaving  all  kinds  of  names;  he  could  even  beat  you  when  it 
came  to  calling  them  fools  for  going  north.  The  next  day 
when  you  met  him  he  wouldn't  talk  so  loud  and  the  next  day 
he  w^ouldn't  let  you  see  him.  That  would  be  the  last  of  him, 
because,  unless  you  went  to  the  depot,  you  wouldn't  see  him 
again.  Whenever  I  saw  them  shying  off  from  me,  I  always 
knew  what  they  had  up  their  sleeves."  It  was  "  just  naturally 
fashionable  "  to  leave  for  the  North.  A  man  would  make  up 
his  mind  to  go  and  proceed  forthwith  to  persuade  his  friends. 
If  they  refused,  they  no  longer  had  any  interests  in  common. 
In  talking  with  a  man  who  had  persistently  refused  to  leave, 
he  declared  that  he  had  lost  practically  every  friend  he  had, 
simply  because  he  did  not  agree  with  them  on  "  the  northern 
question."  For  the  pastors  of  churches  it  was  a  most  trying 
ordeal.  They  must  watch  their  congregations  melt  away  and 
could  say  nothing.  If  they  spoke  in  favor  of  the  movement, 
they  were  in  danger  of  a  clash  with  the  authorities.     If  they 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Florida. 


40  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

discouraged  it,  they  were  accused  of  being  bought  up  to  hold 
negroes  in  bondage.  If  a  pastor  attempted  to  persuade  negroes 
to  stay,  his  congregation  and  his  collection  would  be  cut  down 
and  in  some  cases  his  resignation  demanded.  In  some  of  the 
smaller  communities  the  pastors  settled  this  difficulty  by  follow- 
ing their  flock,  as  was  the  case  of  three  who  left  Hattiesburg, 
Mississippi,  following  their  congregations.  Two  lumber  com- 
panies in  Mississippi  employed  a  negro  to  lecture  for  the  purpose 
of  discouraging  the  exodus.  He  was  handsomely  paid,  but  he 
was  unheeded.  Even  now  he  is  held  in  contempt  by  his  former 
friends. 

The  devout  and  religious  saw  God  in  the  movement.  It  was 
inspired,  they  said,  else  why  could  so  many  thousand  negroes 
all  be  obsessed  at  once  with  the  same  impulse.  There  were  set 
afloat  rumors  that  a  great  calamity  was  about  to  befall  the 
Southland.  In  Georgia  and  Alabama,  hundreds  believed  that 
God  had  cursed  the  land  when  he  sent  droughts  and  floods  and 
destructive  pests  to  visit  them.  The  number  of  negroes  needed 
in  the  North  was  counted  in  millions;  the  wages  offered  were 
fabulous  and  the  letters  that  came  from  the  vanguard  painted 
pictures  of  a  land  of  plenty.  From  some  communities  a  small 
group  would  leave,  promising  to  inform  those  behind  of  the 
actual  state  of  affairs.  For  a  week  or  more  there  would  follow 
a  tense  period  of  "  watchful  waiting  "  and  never  ending  anxiety, 
when  finally  there  would  arrive  a  card  bearing  the  terse  report 
"  Everything  pritty,"  or  "  Home  ain't  nothing  like  this."  On 
this  assurance,  a  reckless  disposition  of  household  effects  would 
follow.^ 

The  towns  quite  naturally  were  the  first  to  feel  the  effect. 
There,  the  pass  rider — the  labor  agent — could  move  about  more 
freely.  People  lived  in  closer  contact  and  news  circulated  more 
rapidly ;  the  papers  came  in  regularly  and  the  negroes  themselves 
could  see  those  leaving.  On  market  days  when  the  country  folk 
reached  town  they  got  their  first  impulse  from  the  commotion. 
Young  country  boys  failed  to  return  to  quiet  isolation,  and 
sturdy  sensible  farmers  whose  whole  lives  had  been  spent  on 

*  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 


THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    MOVEMENT  41 

the  farm,  could  not  resist  the  temptation.  As  they  returned 
they  informed  their  neighbors,  saying:  "  They  are  leaving  town 
by  the  thousands,"  or  "  Man,  colored  folks  are  leaving  in  droves 
for  the  North."  There  are  cases  of  men  who  left  their  fields 
half  plowed  and  journeyed  to  the  city  and  thence  to  the  North. 
In  other  communities,  the  beginning  would  be  a  timid  dribble 
to  the  larger  cities  or  directly  to  the  North.^ 

The  state  of  mind  of  the  community  under  the  influence  of  the 
first  effects  of  the  "  fever  "  is  illustrated  in  authenticated  ac- 
counts of  persons  who  witnessed  the  exodus  from  different  cities : 

The  most  interesting  thing  is  how  these  people  left.  They  were  selling 
out  everything  they  had  or  in  a  manner  giving  it  away;  selling  their  homes, 
mules,  horses,  cows,  and  everything  about  them  but  their  trunks.  All 
around  in  the  country,  people  who  were  so  old  they  could  not  very  well  get 
about  were  leaving.  Some  left  with  six  to  eight  very  small  children  and 
babies  half  clothed,  no  shoes  on  their  feet,  hungry,  not  anything  to  eat  and 
not  even  a  cent  over  their  train  fare.  Some  would  go  to  the  station  and 
wait  there  three  or  four  days  for  an  agent  who  was  carrying  them  on  passes. 
Others  of  this  city  would  go  in  clubs  of  fifty  and  a  hundred  at  a  time  in 
order  to  get  reduced  rates.  They  usually  left  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday 
nights.  One  Wednesday  night  I  went  to  the  station  to  see  a  friend  of  mine 
who  was  leaving.  I  could  not  get  in  the  station,  there  were  so  many  people 
turning  like  bees  in  a  hive.  Officers  would  go  up  and  down  the  tracks 
trying  to  keep  the  people  back.  One  old  lady  and  man  had  gotten  on  the 
train.  They  were  patting  their  feet  and  singing  and  a  man  standing  nearby 
asked,  "Uncle,  where  are  you  going?"  The  old  man  replied,  "Well,  son, 
I'm  gwine  to  the  promised  land."  2 

1  The  Chicago  Defender,  1916,  1917. 

2  "  Whether  he  knew  what  he  was  going  for  or  not,"  says  one,  "  he  did 
not  take  time  to  consider.  The  slogan  was  '  going  north.'  Some  never 
questioned  the  whys  or  wherefores  but  went ;  led  as  if,  by  some  mysterious 
unseen  hand  which  was  compelling  them  on,  they  just  couldn't  stay.  One 
old  negro  when  asked  why  he  was  leaving,  replied :  '  I  don't  know  why  or 
where  I'm  going,  but  I'm  on  my  way.'  Tlie  northern  fever  was  just  simply 
contagious  ;  they  couldn't  help  themselves.  So  far  as  I  know,  and  I  think 
I  am  about  right,  this  fever  started  in  and  around  the  vicinity  of  Bessemer, 
Alabama.  One  little  village,  especially,  there  was  owned  by  a  white  man 
from  my  home  who  had  gone  there  the  year  before  carrying  some  negroes 
with  him.  Th-e  negroes  started  leaving  this  village  so  fast  that  he  wouldn't 
allow  any  more  tickets  to  be  sold  in  this  village,  but  the  negroes  only 
scoffed  at  this.  They  left  the  plantations  at  night  and  went  to  other  villages 
for  tickets.  The  fever  had  now  begun  and,  like  all  other  contagious  diseases, 
it  soon  spread.  I  arrived  home  on  May  4  and  found  my  native  town  all 
in  a  bustle.  Now,  w^hat  was  it  all  about?  The  next  club  for  the  North  was 
leaving  on  May  18.  The  second-hand  furniture  store  and  junk  shop  were 
practically  overflowing.  People  were  selling  out  valuable  furniture  such  as 
whole  bedroom  sets   for  only  $2.     One   family  that   I  knew  myself   sold  a 


42  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

"  When  the  laboring  man  got  paid  off,"  said  a  Jackson,  Mis- 
sissippi, man,  "  he  bought  himself  a  suit  of  overalls  and  a 
paper  valise  and  disappeared."  Even  the  young  married  v^omen 
refused  to  wait  any  longer  than  the  time  required  to  save  rail- 
road fare.  It's  strange  that  when  a  negro  got  a  notion  to  leave 
and  he  could  not  sell  or  give  away,  he  simply  locked  up  his 
house  and  left  the  key  with  his  neighbor.  Families  with  $1,000 
worth  of  furniture  have  been  known  to  sell  it  for  $150.  A  negro 
in  Jackson  was  buying  a  $1,000  house,  on  which  he  had  paid 
$700.  When  the  "  fever  "  struck  the  town,  he  sold  it  for  $100 
and  left. 

There  was  related  this  instance  of  a  number  of  negro  laborers : 

On  a  plantation  in  south  Georgia,  where  fifteen  or  more  families  were 
farming  as  tenants,  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of  confusion  and  suffering 
among  the  people  because  of  the  lack  of  sufficient  food  and  clothing.  There 
were  the  Joneses,  a  family  of  nine,  the  Harrisons,  a  family  of  ten,  and  the 
Battles,  a  family  of  six.  No  family  on  the  place  had  an  allowance  of  more 
than  $25  per  month  for  food  and  clothing.  When  this  allowance  gave  out, 
nothing  could  be  gotten  until  the  next  month  and  the  tenants  dared  not 
leave  their  farms  to  work  elsewhere.  The  owner  of  this  plantation  lived 
in  town  ten  miles  away  and  only  visited  the  farm  about  once  a  week.  Much 
to  his  surprise,  on  one  of  his  weekly  visits,  he  found  all  the  homes  and 
farms  deserted  except  one.  On  that  were  two  old  men,  Uncle  Ben  and 
Uncle  Joe,  who  had  been  left  behind  because  they  were  unable  to  secure 
passes.    Uncle  Ben  and  Uncle  Joe  sorrowfully  told  the  landlord  all  that  had 

beautiful  expensive  home  for  only  $100.  In  fact  people  almost  gave  away 
their  houses  and  furnishings.  Finally,  the  night  for  the  club  to  leave  came 
and  the  crowds  at  the  train  were  so  large  that  the  policemen  had  to  just 
force  them  back  in  order  to  allow  the  people  to  get  on  and  off.  After  the 
train  was  filled  with  as  many  people  as  it  could  hold,  the  old  engine  gave 
one  or  two  puffs  and  pulled  out,  bound  for  the  promised  land." 

"  A  very  close  neighbor  of  ours,"  says  one,  "  left  for  the  North.  He 
had  a  very  small  family.  He  left  because  his  youngest  son,  who  had  been 
north  a  few  months,  came  home  with  a  considerable  amount  of  money 
which  he  had  saved  while  on  his  trip.  The  father  made  haste  and  sold  all 
he  had.  His  son  got  him  a  pass.  He  said  it  was  far  better  for  him  to  be 
in  the  North  where  he  could  stand  up  like  a  man  and  demand  his  rights ; 
so  he  is  there.  His  daughter  Mary  remained  at  home  for  some  time  after 
the  family  had  gone.  She  finally  wrote  her  father  to  send  her  a  pass,  which 
he  did.  She  had  a  small  boy  that  was  given  her.  She  was  not  able  to 
take  him  and  care  for  him  as  she  would  like.  Her  next  door  neighbor,  a 
very  fine  woman  who  had  no  children,  wanted  a  child  so  Mary  gave  it  to 
her.  To  secure  better  wages  and  more  freedom  his  oldest  son  went  to 
East  St.  Louis  and  remained  there  until  June.  Then  he  left  for  Chicago. 
This  family  sold  their  chickens  and  rented  their  cattle  to  some  of  the  people 
in  that  community." — Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during 
the  World  War. 


THE   SPREAD   OF    THE    MOVEMENT  43 

happened,  emphasizing  the  fact  that  they  were  the  only  Ones  who  had 
remained  loyal  to  him.  Then  they  told  him  their  needs.  The  landlord, 
thinking  that  the  old  negroes  were  so  faithful,  rewarded  them  with  a  good 
sum  of  money  and  left  with  the  assurance  that  they  would  see  to  the  crops 
being  worked.  No  sooner  had  the  landlord  left  than  these  old  men  with 
grips  packed  and  with  the  money  they  had  received,  boarded  the  train  to 
join  their  companions  in  the  North. ^ 

As  an  example  of  the  irresistible  force  which  characterized 
the  movement,  one  old  negro  made  the  remark :  "  I  sorter  wanted 
to  go  myself.  I  didn't  know  just  where  I  wanted  to  go.  I  just 
wanted  to  git  away  with  the  rest  of  them."  A  woman  in  speak- 
ing of  the  torture  of  solitude  which  she  experienced  after  the 
first  wave  passed  over  her  town,  said :  "  You  could  go  out  on 
the  street  and  count  on  your  fingers  all  the  colored  people  you 
saw  during  the  entire  day.  Now  and  then  a  disconsolate  look- 
ing Italian  storekeeper  would  come  out  in  the  street,  look  up 
and  down  and  walk  back.  It  was  a  sad  looking  place,  and  so 
quiet  it  gave  you  the  shivers."  " 

In  the  heat  of  the  excitement  families  left  carrying  members 
dangerously  ill.  There  is  reported  one  interesting  case  of  a 
family  with  one  of  its  members  sick  with  pneumonia.  As  soon 
as  the  woman  was  able  to  sit  up,  she  was  carried  away.  At 
St.  Louis  it  was  found  necessary  to  stop  because  of  her  con-  • 
dition.  Finding  that  she  could  not  recover,  they  proceeded  to 
Chicago,  where  she  died.  Several  of  the  migrants  have  seen 
fit  to  make  heroes  of  themselves  by  declining  to  return  to  the 
South  even  on  the  advice  of  a  physician.  Thus,  a  certain  min- 
ister is  said  to  have  refused  to  be  sent  home  when  his  physician 
had  told  him  there  was  a  possible  chance  for  recovery  in  his 
home  in  the  South.  He  said  that  he  preferred  to  die  and  be 
buried  in  the  North. 

By  the  summer  of  1916,  the  exodus  from  Florida  had  grown 
to  such  ungovernable  bounds  that  the  more  stable  classes  of 
negroes  became  unsettled.  A  body,  representing  the  influential 
colored  citizens  of  the  State,  wrote  the  editor  of  the  New 
York  Age:^ 

1  Work  and  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  during  the  World  War. 

"  Ibid. 

3  The  New  York  Age,  August  16,  1916. 


44  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

Jacksonville,  Fla.,  August  10,  1916. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Age: 

To  be  brief,  I  beg  to  state  that  the  ( )   of  this  city,  in  a  regular 

meeting,  voted  last  Monday  that  I  write  your  paper  asking  advice  on  the 
subject  of  migration  which  is  large  and  really  alarming  to  the  people  of 
this  State,  for  thousands  of  people  (colored)  are  leaving  this  State,  going 
to  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Maryland  and  New  Jersey,  where  it  is  stated 
they  are  wanted  as  laborers  in  various  pursuits.  In  your  mind  and  to 
your  knowledge,  do  you  think  it  is  the  best  thing  for  them  to  do,  and  are 
they  bettering  condition  financially,  morally  and  religiously;  even  in  man- 
hood, citizenship,  etc.    Our has  been  asked  by  the  white  and  colored 

people  here  to  speak  in  an  advisory  way,  but  we  decided  to  remain  silent 
until  we  can  hear  from  reliable  sources  in  the  North  and  East,  and  you 
have  been  designated  as  one  of  the  best.  So  to  speak,  our  city  is  in  a  tur- 
moil— in  suspense.  You  have  doubtless  heard  of  the  great  exodus  of  negroes 
to  the  North,  and  we  presume  you  have  given  it  some  thought,  and  even 
investigated  it.  Please  give  the  benefit  of  your  findings  and  reasons  for 
your  conclusion. 

Thanking  you  in  advance  for  a  prompt  and  full  reply  to  the  correspond- 
ing secretary,  Yours  truly, 

Corresponding  Secretary. 

Caught  up  in  the  wave  of  enthusiasm  that  swept  over  the 
South,  these  migrants  could  not  resist  the  impulse  to  leave.  The 
economic  loss  resulting  from  their  reckless  departure  expressed 
in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents  is  another  story,  and  probably 
can  never  be  even  approximately  estimated.  What  seems  of 
most  interest  here  is  that  they  were  in  the  frame  of  mind  for 
leaving.  They  left  as  though  they  were  fleeing  some  curse ;  they 
were  willing  to  make  almost  any  sacrifice  to  obtain  a  railroad 
ticket  and  they  left  with  the  intention  of  staying.  What  has 
been  described,  of  course,  can  not  be  construed  to  apply  to 
every  one  who  left.  There  were  those  of  the  business  and 
professional  classes  who  were  promoted  by  other  motives  than 
those  which  impelled  the  masses  of  migrants.  There  were,  for 
example,  migrants  who  in  the  South  had  held  positions  of  rela- 
tively high  standing  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  there  do  exist 
two  institutional  standards,  the  white  and  the  black.  Measured 
by  the  requirements  of  the  latter,  they  stood  high  in  the  respect 
of  the  community,  but  when  removed  to  the  North  they  suffered 
in  the  rank  of  their  occupation.     A  college  president  or  even 


THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    MOVEMENT  45 

a  school  teacher  had  little  opportunity  in  their  respective  fields 
in  the  North.  They  had,  therefore,  migrated  because  deserted 
by  their  neighbors  they  were  left  with  a  prospect  of  a  diminishing 
social  importance. 

Professional  men  followed  their  practice.  In  Chicago  there 
are  at  least  six  lawyers  from  Mississippi,  with  practically  the 
same  clientele.  At  the  height  of  the  exodus,  one  of  these  came 
to  Chicago  and  secured  admission  to  the  bar  in  order  that  he 
might  be  in  a  position  to  move  quickly  if  his  practice  were  too 
severely  cut  down.  Several  physicians  of  the  State  have  re- 
marked that  they  would  now  be  in  the  East  or  the  North  if 
reciprocity  with  the  State  of  Mississippi  were  possible.^  Busi- 
ness men  have  been  reported  to  have  moved  North  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  collecting  debts.  Others  are  cooler  and  more  calcu- 
lating in  preparing  to  leave.  One  pharmacist,  for  instance,  plans 
to  move  within  the  next  five  years.  It  is  true  that  some  of 
those  who  came  in  the  movement  would  have  come  even  if  no 
one  else  had  decided  to  migrate.  The  influence  of  the  general 
state  of  mind,  however,  on  the  great  majority  is  of  most  con- 
cern in  determining  the  forces  behind  the  exodus. 

Possibly  the  numbers  to  leave  the  South  would  have  been 
considerably  smaller  had  there  not  been  existent  so  universal 
a  readiness  to  respond  to  a  call  in  almost  any  direction.  The 
causes  of  this  state  of  mind  are  stated  elsewhere.  What  is  im- 
portant here  is  the  behavior  of  the  persons  leaving  which  ex- 
erted such  a  compelling  influence  on  their  neighbors.  The  ac- 
tions are  illustrative  not  only  of  the  contagion  of  the  movement,, 
but  of  the  fundamental  emotions  of  the  negroes  who  formed 
the  exodus.  Thus  it  was,  for  example,  that  the  movement  was 
called  the  "  exodus "  from  its  suggestive  resemblance  to  the 
flight  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  The  Promised  Land,  Cross- 
ing over  Jordan  (the  Ohio  River),  and  Beulah  Land.  At  times 
demonstrations  took  on  a  rather  spectacular  aspect,  as  when  a 
party  of  147  from  Hattiesburg,  Mississippi,  while  crossing  the 
Ohio  River,  held  solemn  ceremonies.  These  migrants  knelt 
down  and  prayed;   the  men  stopped  their  watches  and,   amid 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


46  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

tears  of  joy,  sang  the  familiar  songs  of  deliverance,  "  I  done 
come  out  of  the  Land  of  Egypt  with  the  good  news."  The  songs 
following  in  order  were  "  Beulah  Land "  and  "  Dwelling  in 
Beulah  Land."  One  woman  of  the  party  declared  that  she 
could  detect  an  actual  difference  in  the  atmosphere  beyond  the 
Ohio  River,  explaining  that  it  was  much  lighter  and  that  she 
could  get  her  breath  more  easily.^ 

The  general  direction  of  the  spread  of  the  movement  was 
from  east  to  west.  While  efforts  were  being  made  to  check 
the  exodus  from  Florida,  the  good  citizens  of  Texas  were  first 
beginning  to  note  a  stir  of  unrest  in  their  sections.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  march  of  the  boll  weevil,  that  stripped  the  cotton 
fields  of  the  South,  was  from  west  to  east.  Where  there  was 
wide  unemployment,  depression  and  poverty  as  a  result  of  the 
great  floods  in  Alabama,  the  cutting  down  of  the  cane  area 
in  Louisiana,  the  boll  weevil  in  Mississippi,  there  were  to  be 
found  thousands  who  needed  no  other  inducement  save  the 
prospect  of  a  good  job.  Indeed,  it  is  alleged  by  some  negroes 
that  the  myriads  of  labor  agents  who  were  said  to  be  operating 
in  the  South  were  creatures  of  the  imagination  of  an  affrighted 
Southland;  that  but  few  were  actually  offering  positions  in  the 
North;  but  their  success  was  due  to  the  overpowering  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  negroes  to  go." 

In  September  of  1916  a  Georgia  correspondent  of  the  Atlanta 
Constitution  wrote : 

For  the  past  two  or  three  weeks  I  have  been  receiving  two  or  more  letters 
daily  from  people  in  all  sections  of  Georgia  asking  my  advice  as  to  the 
advisability  of  the  colored  people  leaving  the  State  in  large  numbers,  as 
they  have  been  leaving  for  the  past  six  months.  I  think  it  is  a  mistake  for 
our  people  to  sell  and  practically  give  their  earnings  of  years  just  on  a 
hearsay  that  they  will  be  given  larger  salaries  and  great  advantages  in  some 
other  part  of  the  country. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  State  of  South  Carolina  was 
not  immediately  affected.  It  was  not  until  the  discussions  bear- 
ing on  the  negro's  insecurity  and  economic  state,  which  accom- 

^  Tohnson.  Report  on   the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 
2  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Alabama. 


THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    MOVEMENT  47 

panied  the  exodus  in  justification  of  it,  had  begun  to  be  em- 
phasized as  the  cause  of  the  movement  that  a  great  exodus 
took  place  in  the  State.  The  principal  occasion  here  was  the 
unfortunate  lynching  of  Anthony  Crawford.  A  negro  news- 
paper with  a  correspondent  in  Abbeville  said : 

The  lynching  of  Anthony  Crawford  has  caused  men  and  women  of  this 
State  to  get  up  and  bodily  leave  it.  The  lynching  of  Mr.  Crawford  was 
unwarranted  and  uncalled  for  and  his  treatment  was  such  a  disgrace  that 
respectable  people  are  leaving  daily.  When  they  begin  to  leave  in  the  next 
few  weeks  like  they  have  planned,  this  section  will  go  almost  into  hysterics 
as  some  sections  of  Georgia  and  Alabama  are  doing  because  they  are  leaving 
for  the  North  to  better  their  industrial  condition.  Crawford  is  said  to 
have  been  worth  $100,000  in  property.  His  wife  and  five  sons  have  been 
ordered  to  leave.  Word  comes  that  neighbors  are  beginning  to  leave  and 
the  number  the  first  of  the  week  reached  1,000.  The  cry  now  is—"  Go 
north,  where  there  is  some  humanity,  some  justice  and  fairness."  White 
people  have  accelerated  the  movement  for  the  race  to  move  north. 

This,  however,  accounts  principally  for  the  spread  of  the 
movement  as  accomplished  by  northern  capital  which,  hitting 
the  South  in  spots,  made  it  possible  for  a  wider  dissemination 
of  knowledge  concerning  the  North,  and  actually  placed  in  the 
North  persons  with  numerous  personal  connections  at  home. 
The  husbands  and  fathers  who  preceded  their  families  could 
and  did  command  that  they  follow,  and  they  in  turn  influenced 
their  neighbors.  It  appears  that  those  who  came  on  free  trans- 
portation were  largely  men  who  had  no  permanent  interests  or 
who  could  afford  to  venture  into  strange  fields.  This  indis- 
criminate method  of  many  of  the  transporting  agencies  un- 
doubtedly made  it  possible  for  a  great  number  of  indigent  and 
thriftless  negroes  simply  to  change  the  scene  of  their  inaction. 
Yet  it  is  unquestionably  true  that  quite  a  large  proportion  of 
those  who  went  North  in  this  fashion  were  men  honestly  seek- 
ing remunerative  employment,  or  persons  who  left  through  sheer 
desperation.  In  the  second  stage  of  the  movement  the  club 
organizations,  special  parties  and  chartered  cars  did  most  per- 
haps to  depopulate  little  communities  and  drain  the  towns  and 
cities. 

This  is  easily  to  be  accounted  for.     The  free  trains,  carrying 


48  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

mainly  men,  were  uncertain.  They  were  operated  for  brief 
periods  in  towns,  but  were  in  such  ill  favor  with  the  police 
that  passengers  were  not  safe.  The  clubs  or  special  parties  were 
worked  up  by  a  leader,  who  was  often  a  woman  of  influence. 
She  sought  her  friends  and  a  convenient  date  was  appointed 
Arrangements  could  also  be  made  with  friends  in  the  North 
to  receive  them.  The  effectiveness  of  this  method  is  seen  in 
the  fact  that  neighbor  was  soliciting  neighbor  and  friend  per- 
suading friend.  Women  in  some  of  the  northern  cities,  join- 
ing these  clubs,  assert  that  no  persuasion  was  needed;  that  if  a 
family  found  that  it  could  not  leave  with  the  first  groups,  it 
felt  desolate  and  willing  to  resort  to  any  extremes  and  sacrifices 
to  get  the  necessary  fare.  One  woman  in  a  little  town  in 
Mississippi,  from  which  over  half  of  the  negro  population  had 
dribbled  away,  said :  "  If  I  stay  here  any  longer,  I'll  go  wild. 
Every  time  I  go  home  I  have  to  pass  house  after  house  of  all 
my  friends  who  are  in  the  North  and  prospering.  I've  been 
trying  to  hold  on  here  and  keep  my  little  property.  There  ain't 
enough  people  here  I  now  know  to  give  me  a  decent  burial." 


CHAPTER  V 
The  Call  of  the  Self-Sufficient  North 

A  surviving  custom  of  servitude  has  consigned  the  mass  of 
negroes  to  the  lower  pursuits  of  labor.  Even  at  this  it  would 
be  possible  to  live,  for  there  would  be  work.  In  the  North, 
however,  such  employment  has  been  monopolized  by  foreign 
immigrants  clearing  Ellis  Island  at  the  rate  of  more  than  a 
million  a  year.  The  usurpation  here  brought  no  clash,  for  the 
number  of  negroes  in  the  North  scarcely  equalled  a  year's  immi- 
gration. From  the  ranks  of  unskilled  labor,  accordingly,  they 
were  effectively  debarred,  being  used  occasionally,  and  to  their 
own  detriment,  as  strike  breakers  and  forced  to  receive  smaller 
wages  and  to  make  more  enemies.  From  the  field  of  skilled  labor 
they  have  been  similarly  debarred  by  the  labor  unions. 

The  labor  unions  have  felt  that  they  had  a  good  case  against 
the  negro  workman.  The  complaints  most  commonly  made 
are  that  he  could  be  too  easily  used  as  a  strike  breaker  and  that 
he  lacked  interest  in  the  trade  union  movement.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  both  are  true.  An  explanation  of  this  attitude  at  the 
same  time  brings  out  another  barrier  opposed  by  the  North  to 
the  free  access  of  negroes  to  trades.  Considerable  wavering 
has  characterized  the  attitude  of  the  trade  unions  toward  negro 
labor.  The  complexity  of  their  organization  makes  it  difficult 
to  place  any  responsibility  directly  for  their  shortcomings.  The 
fact  remains,  however,  that  despite  the  declaration  of  the  con-  , 
stitution  of  the  federated  body  that  no  distinction  shall  be  made 
on  account  of  sex,  color  or  creed,  negroes  have  been  systemati- 
cally debarred  from  membership  in  a  great  number  of  labor 
bodies.  Even  where  there  has  been  no  express  prohibition  in 
the  constitution  of  local  organizations  the  disposition  to  exclude 
them  has  been  just  as  effective.  Refused  membership,  they  have 
easily  become  strike  breakers.     The  indifference  on  the  part  of 

49 


50  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

negroes  to  the  labor  movement,  however,  may  well  be  attributed 
also  to  ignorance  of  its  benefits.  In  a  number  of  cases  sep- 
arate organizations  have  been  granted  them. 

With  the  foreign  immigration  silently  crowding  him  back 
into  the  South,  the  labor  unions,  the  prejudices  of  his  white 
fellow  workman  and  the  paucity  of  his  number  making  him 
ineffective  as  a  competitor,  driving  him  from  the  door  of  the 
factory  and  workshop,  the  negro  workman,  whatever  his  quali- 
fications, was  prior  to  1914  forced  to  enter  the  field  of  domestic 
service  in  the  North  and  farming  in  the  South.  The  conditions 
of  livelihood  in  both  sections  kept  him  rigidly  restricted  to  this 
limited  economic  sphere.  In  1910  the  total  number  of  negroes 
ten  years  of  age  and  over  gainfully  occupied  in  the  United  States 
was  5,192,535  or  71  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  negroes 
ten  years  of  age  and  over.  Of  this  number  2,848,258  or  55.2 
per  cent  were  farmers  and  1,122,182  or  21.4  per  cent  were 
domestic  servants.  Out  of  nearly  five  hundred  occupations  listed 
in  the  census  of  1910  three-fourths  of  the  negro  working  popu- 
lation were  limited  to  two.  In  the  manufacturing  and  mechani- 
cal pursuits  throughout  the  entire  United  States  there  were  em- 
ployed scarcely  a  half  milHon  or  12.1  per  cent  of  the  working 
population. 

Statistics  of  labor  conditions  in  certain  northern  cities  sup- 
port this  conclusion.  In  New  York  City  in  1910,  of  the  negroes 
ten  years  of  age  and  over  gainfully  occupied  there  were  33,110 
males  and  26,352  females.  Of  the  males  there  were  engaged 
in  domestic  and  personal  service  16,Y24  or  47.6  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  males.  Of  the  26,352  females  there  were  in 
domestic  service  24,647  or  93.5  per  cent  of  the  total  number. 
In  the  occupations  which  require  any  degree  of  skill  and  utilize 
the  training  of  acquired  trades,  the  percentage  was  exceedingly 
low.  For  example,  in  the  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pur- 
suits where  there  were  the  benefits  of  labor  organizations  and 
higher  pay,  there  were  but  4,504  negro  males,  or  13.6  per  cent 
of  the  total  number  gainfully  employed.  The  per  cent  of  col- 
ored women  in  this  line  was  considerably  less.  Taken  together 
with  the  1,993  dressmakers  working  outside  of  factories  it  was 


THE    CALL    OF    THE    SELF-SUFFICIENT    NORTH  51 

but  8.3  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  females.  This  line  of 
work,  however,  as  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  done  will  recognize,  is  but  another  form  of  domestic 
service.  Exclusive  of  this  number  the  per  cent  drops  to  a  figure 
a  trifle  over  one  per  cent. 

Chicago,  as  another  typical  northern  city,  shows  practically 
the  same  limitations  on  negro  labor.  In  1910  there  were  gain- 
fully employed  in  this  city  27,317  negroes.  Of  this  total  61.8 
per  cent  were  engaged  in  domestic  service.  The  negro  women, 
of  course,  contributed  a  larger  share  to  this  proportion,  theirs 
being  83.8  per  cent  of  the  females  ten  years  of  age  and  over 
gainfully  employed.  In  the  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pur- 
suits there  were  engaged  3,466  males  and  1,038  females,  or 
18.7  and  1.1  per  cent  respectively.^ 

Detroit,  viewed  in  the  light  of  its  tremendous  increase,  shows 
some  of  the  widest  differences.  In  1910  there  were  3,310 
negroes  of  working  age  profitably  employed.  Of  this  number 
there  were  but  410  males  and  74  females  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facturing and  mechanical  pursuits.  Forty-six  of  the  total  female 
working  population  were  engaged  in  domestic  service.  Limited 
to  a  few  occupations,  the  negroes  naturally  encountered  there 
iiitense  competition  with  the  usual  result  of  low  wages  and 
numerous  other  abuses.  Whenever  they  entered  new  fields,  as 
for  instance  those  designated  by  the  census  as  trade  and  trans- 
portation, they  were  generally  compelled  to  accept  wages  below 
the  standard  to  obtain  such  employment. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  slow  but  steady  progress 
throughout  the  North  toward  the  accession  of  negroes  to  new 
lines  of  occupation.  This  change  was  forced,  unquestionably, 
by  the  necessity  for  seeking  new  fields  even  at  an  economic  loss. 
From  the  lines  of  work  in  which  negroes  for  a  long  time  have 
held  unquestioned  prestige,  the  competition  of  other  nationalities 
has  removed  them.  It  is  difficult  now  to  find  a  barber  shop 
operated  by  a  negro  in  the  business  district  of  any  northern 
city.  The  most  dangerous  competitor  of  the  negro  in  northern 
industry  has  been  the  immigrant,  who,  unconscious  of  his  subtle 

1  These  facts  appear  in  the  United  States  Census  Reports. 


52  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

inhibition  on  the  negro's  industrial  development,  crowded  him 
out  of  employment  in  the  North  and  fairly  well  succeeded  in 
holding  him  in  the  South.  After  fifty  years  of  European  immi- 
gration the  foreign  born  increased  from  two  million  to  over 
thirteen  million  and  only  five  per  cent  of  them  have  settled  in 
the  South.  Indeed,  the  yearly  increase  in  foreign  immigration 
equalled  the  entire  negro  population  of  the  North. 

The  competition  in  the  North  has,  therefore,  been  in  con- 
sequence bitter  and  unrelenting.  Swedes  and  Germans  have 
replaced  negroes  in  some  cities  as  janitors.  Austrians,  French- 
men and  Germans  have  ousted  them  from  the  hotels,  and  Greeks 
have  almost  monopolized  the  bootblacking  business.  The  decline 
in  the  domestic  service  quota  of  the  working  negro  population, 
when  there  has  been  a  decline,  seems  to  have  been  forced.  The 
figures  of  the  United  States  census  strengthen  the  belief  that  the 
World  War  has  accomplished  one  of  two  things :  It  has  either 
hastened  the  process  of  opening  up  larger  fields  or  it  has  pre- 
vented a  serious  economic  situation  which  doubtless  would  have 
followed  the  complete  supplanting  of  negroes  by  foreigners  in 
practically  all  lines. 

Before  the  war  the  immigration  of  foreigners  from  Europe 
was  proceeding  at  the  enormous  rate  of  over  a  million  a  year. 
This  influx  was  so  completely  checked  by  the  war  that  the  margin 
of  arrivals  over  departures  for  the  first  three  years  following 
the  beginning  of  hostilities  was  the  smallest  in  fifty  years.  The 
following  is  a  statement  taken  from  reports  of  the  Bureau  of 
Foreign  Immigration. 

IMMIGRATION  SINCE  1913 

Year  Number 

1913    1,197,892 

1914   1,218,480 

1915   326,700 

1916   298,826 

1917    295,403 

The  decrease  of  over  900,000  immigrants,  on  whom  the  in- 
dustries of  the  North  depended,  caused  a  grave  situation.  It 
must  be  remembered  also  that  of  the  295,403  arrivals  in  1917, 


THE   CALL   OF    THE   SELF-SUFFICIENT    NORTH  53 

there  were  included  32,346  English,  24,405  French  and  13,350 
Scotch  who  furnish  but  a  small  quota  of  the  laboring  classes. 
There  were  also  16,438  Mexicans  who  came  over  the  border, 
and  who,  for  the  most  part,  live  and  work  in  the  Southwest. 
The  type  of  immigration  which  kept  prime  the  labor  market 
of  the  North  and  Northwest  came  in  through  Ellis  Island.  Of 
these,  Mr.  Frederick  C.  Howe,  Commissioner  of  Immigration, 
said  that  "  only  enough  have  come  to  balance  those  who  have 
left."  He  adds  further  that  "  As  a  result,  there  has  been  a 
great  shortage  of  labor  in  many  of  our  industrial  sections  that 
may  last  as  long  as  the  war." 

With  the  establishment  of  new  industries  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  war,  the  erection  of  munitions  plants  for  the  manufacture 
of  war  materials  and  the  enlargement  of  already  existing  indus- 
tries to  meet  the  abnormally  large  demand  for  materials  here 
and  in  Europe,  there  came  a  shifting  in  the  existing  labor 
supply  in  the  North.  There  was  a  rush  to  the  higher  paid 
positions  in  the  munitions  plants.  This,  together  with  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  white  men  to  higher  positions  nearly  depleted 
the  ranks  of  common  labor.  The  companies  employing  foreign 
labor  for  railroad  construction  work  and  in  the  steel  mills  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  tobacco  fields  of  Connecticut,  the  packing 
houses,  foundries  and  automobile  plants  of  the  Northwest,  found 
it  imperative  to  seek  for  labor  in  home  fields.  The  Department 
of  Labor,  in  the  effort  to  relieve  this  shortage,  through  its  em- 
ployment service,  at  first  assisted  the  migration  northward.  It 
later  withdrew  its  assistance  when  its  attention  was  called  to  the 
growing  magnitude  of  the  movement  and  its  possible  effect 
on  the  South. 

Deserted  by  the  Department  of  Labor,  certain  northern  em- 
ployers undertook  to  translate  their  desires  into  action  in  1915, 
when  the  anxieties  of  the  New  England  tobacco  planters  were 
felt  in  the  New  York  labor  market.  These  planters  at  first  rushed 
to  New  York  and  promiscuously  gathered  up  200  girls  of  the 
worst  type,  who  straightway  proceeded  to  demoralize  Hart- 
ford. The  blunder  was  speedily  detected  and  the  employers 
came  back  to  New  York,  seeking  some  agency  which  might 


54  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

assist  them  in  the  solution  of  their  problem.  Importuned  for 
help,  the  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes 
supplied  these  planters  with  respectable  southern  blacks  who 
met  this  unusual  demand  for  labor  in  Connecticut.  Later,  more- 
over, it  appeared  that  on  the  threshold  of  an  unusually  promis- 
ing year  the  Poles,  Lithuanians  and  Czechs,  formerly  employed 
in  the  fields,  were  dwindling  in  number  and  there  was  not  at 
hand  the  usual  supply  from  which  their  workers  were  recruited. 
A  large  number  of  these  foreigners  had  been  called  back  to  their 
fatherland  to  engage  in  the  World  War. 

In  January  of  1916,  therefore,  the  tobacco  growers  of  Con- 
necticut met  in  conference  to  give  this  question  serious  consider- 
ation. Mr.  Floyd,  the  Manager  of  the  Continental  Tobacco  Cor- 
poration, offered  a  solution  for  this  difficult  problem  through 
the  further  importation  of  negro  labor.  The  response  to  this 
suggestion  was  not  immediate,  because  New  England  had  never 
had  large  experience  with  negro  labor.  An  intense  interest  in 
the  experiment,  however,  was  aroused  through  a  number  of 
men  with  connections  in  the  South,  It  was  decided  that  the 
National  League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes,  with 
headquarters  in  New  York  City,  should  further  assist  in  secur- 
ing laborers.  Because  of  the  seasonal  character  of  the  work, 
an  effort  was  made  to  get  students  from  the  southern  schools 
by  advancing  transportation.  The  New  York  News,  a  negro 
weekly,  says  of  this  conference : 

Thus  was  born,  right  in  the  heart  of  Yankee  Land,  the  first  significant 
move  to  supplant  foreign  labor  with  native  labor,  a  step  which  has  resulted 
in  one  of  the  biggest  upheavals  in  the  North  incident  to  the  European  war, 
which  has  already  been  a  boon  to  the  colored  American,  improving  his 
economic  status  and  putting  thousands  of  dollars  into  his  pockets.^ 

The  employers  of  the  North  felt  justified  in  bringing  about  a 
more  equitable  distribution  of  the  available  labor  supply  in 
America.  Discussing  the  labor  situation  before  a  conference 
in  New  York,  Mr.  E.  J.  Traily,  Jr.,  of  the  Erie  Railroad  said: 

The  Erie  Railroad  has  employed  a  large  number  of  the  negro  migrants 
and  we  are  still   in  need  of  more  because  of  the  abnormal  state  of  labor 

1  The  New  York  News. 


THE    CALL    OF    THE    SELF-SUFFICIENT    NORTH  55 

conditions  in  this  part  of  the  country.  It  is  ahogether  unfair  that  the 
southern  States  should  enforce  laws  prohibiting  the  moving  of  labor  from 
their  borders,  when  there  are  railroads  all  over  this  country  that  would 
pay  good  wages  to  these  laborers.  I  know  of  one  railroad  company  last 
year,  which  never  had  a  colored  man  in  the  service,  that  was  offering  large 
wages  and  scouring  every  place  for  colored  help.  At  the  same  time  the 
South  had  and  still  has  a  surplus  of  colored  labor  and  would  not  permit 
it  to  be  moved.  These  conditions  actually  exist,  and  I  know  it.  I  am 
interested  in  this  thing  not  alone  from  the  personal  side  of  it,  but  due  to 
the  fact  of  my  association  with  the  Erie  Railroad.  I  believe  that  the 
best  thing  that  this  body  can  do,  in  my  judgment,  is  to  pass  resolutions 
demanding  that  the  United  States  Emigration  Bureau  carry  out  the  act 
passed  by  Congress  empowering  the  Labor  Department  to  place  unoccupied 
men  of  other  parts  of  the  country  where  labor  is  needed.^ 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1916,  the  Pennsylvania  and  Erie 
Railroads  promiscuously  picked  up  trainloads  of  negroes  from 
Jacksonville,  St.  Augustine  and  Pensacola,  Florida.  They  were 
at  first  grouped  in  camps.  The  promise  of  a  long  free  ride 
to  the  North  met  with  instant  favor,  and  wild  excitement  en- 
sued as  the  news  circulated.  Carloads  of  negroes  began  to  pour 
into  Pennsylvania.  When  they  had  once  touched  northern  soil 
and  discovered  that  still  higher  wages  were  being  offered  by 
other  concerns,  many  deserted  the  companies  responsible  for 
their  presence  in  the  North,  Some  drifted  to  the  steel  works 
of  the  same  State;  others  left  for  points  nearby.  Letters  written 
home  brought  news  of  still  more  enticing  fields,  and  succeeded 
in  stimulating  the  movement.  Of  the  12,000  negroes  brought 
into  Pennsylvania  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  less  than  2,000 
remained  with  the  company.^ 

It  will  no  doubt  be  interesting  to  know  exactly  where  these 
negroes  settled  in  the  North.  For  the  purpose  of  understanding 
this  distribution  the  North  may  well  be  divided  according  to 
the  two  main  lines  followed  by  the  migrants  in  leaving  the 
South.  The  South  and  middle  Atlantic  States  sent  the  majority 
of  their  migrants  directly  up  the  Atlantic  coast  while  the  south 
central  States  fed  the  Northwest.  There  is,  of  course,  no  hard 
line  of  separation  for  these  two  streams.    Laborers  were  sought 

1  Neiv  York  Age,  January  30,  1917 ;  Christian  Recorder,  Philadelphia,  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1917. 

2  Ibid. 


56  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

in  fields  most  accessible  to  the  centers  of  industry,  but  individual 
choice  as  displayed  in  the  extent  of  voluntary  migration  carried 
them  everywhere. 

The  New  England  States,  which  were  probably  the  first  to 
attract  this  labor,  were  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  The 
tobacco  fields  of  Connecticut  with  Hartford  as  a  center  received 
the  first  negro  laborers  as  mentioned  above.  Before  a  year 
had  passed  there  were  over  3,000  southern  negroes  in  the  city 
of  Hartford.  Massachusetts  had  its  new  war  plants  which 
served  as  an  attraction.  Holyoke  received  considerable  adver- 
tisement through  the  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions 
among  Negroes,  and  as  a  result  secured  a  number  directly 
from  the  South.  Boston,  which  has  always  stood  as  a  symbol 
of  hope  for  those  who  sought  relief  from  southern  conditions, 
has  not,  however,  at  any  time  afforded  any  great  variety  of  occu- 
pations for  the  peasant  class  of  negroes.  The  receptions  staged 
by  the  negro  leaders  of  that  city  were  stimulated  apparently 
more  by  the  sentimental  causes  of  the  movement  than  any  other 
consideration.  Although  there  existed  in  Boston  the  type  of 
industries  which  required  great  numbers  of  men,  barriers  pre- 
vented negroes  in  large  numbers  from  entering  them  and  as 
a  result  there  was  no  great  influx  of  migrants  from  the  South. 

The  places  mentioned  above  are,  of  course,  only  those  which 
received  large  numbers.  Scattered  all  over  this  section  of  the 
country  were  thousands  of  individuals  who,  seeking  more  profit- 
able employment,  broke  loose  from  the  crowd  congregating  at 
favorite  points.  New  York  State  with  New  York  City  as  its 
center  has  received  a  considerable  number.  New  York  City, 
however,  has  been  principally  a  rerouting  point.  In  fact,  many 
of  those  who  subsequently  went  to  New  England  first  went  to 
New  York  City.  The  State  of  New  York  recruited  its  labor 
here.  There  came  to  New  York  probably  no  less  than  75,000 
negroes,  a  large  portion  of  whom  stopped  in  New  York  City, 
although  Albany,  Poughkeepsie,  Buffalo  and  smaller  cities  re- 
ceived their  share. 

New  Jersey,  because  of  the  great  number  of  its  industrial 
plants,  was  rapidly  filled,     Newark  alone  augmented  its  colored 


THE   CALL   OF    THE   SELF-SUFFICIENT    NORTH  57 

population  within  a  little  over  a  year  by  one  hundred  per  cent. 
The  attractions  in  this  State  were  the  munitions  plants,  brick 
yards  and  wire  factories.  The  principal  cities  here  that  might 
be  mentioned  are  Newark,  Trenton  and  Jersey  City,  although 
the  migration  to  the  last  two  cities  hardly  compares  in  volume 
to  that  of  Newark.  Delaware,  bordering  New  Jersey,  received 
a  few.^  Washington,  the  Capital  City  and  the  gateway  to  the 
North,  already  containing  the  largest  negro  population  of  any 
city  in  the  country  was  in  the  path  of  the  migration  and  had 
its  increase  of  population  accelerated  by  the  war.  A  considerable 
number  of  southern  negroes  found  work  there,  principally  in 
domestic  service.  Pennsylvania,  the  first  northern  State  to 
begin  wholesale  importation  of  labor  from  the  South,  is  the 
seat  of  the  country's  largest  steel  plants  and  is  the  terminal  of 
three  of  the  country's  greatest  railroad  systems.  Pittsburgh 
received  perhaps  the  largest  number;  Philadelphia  and  Harris- 
burg  followed  in  order.  The  numerous  little  industrial  centers 
dotting  the  State  fed  from  the  supply  furnished  by  the  railroads." 

The  migration  to  the  Northwest  was  more  extensive.  Ohio, 
the  State  of  vital  historical  association  for  negroes,  was  gener- 
ously visited.  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Cincinnati,  Akron  and 
Youngstown  were  popular  centers.  The  coal  mines,  factories 
and  iron  works  were  most  in  need  of  men,  and  obtained  them 
without  any  great  difficulty.  Indiana,  still  probably  remembered 
as  the  delicate  spot  in  the  inquiry  following  a  similar  migration 
thirty-nine  years  ago,  with  its  very  highly  developed  industries 
caught  the  flood  proceeding  up  the  Mississippi  valley.  Indianap- 
olis was  a  popular  point  although  not  a  satisfactory  one  for 
the  migrants,  who  pretty  generally  left  it  for  better  fields.  Gary 
and  Indiana  Harbor,  more  properly  satellite  cities  of  Chicago, 
developed  an  almost  entirely  new  negro  population. 

Missouri,  a  border  State,  has  one  city  with  a  considerably 
augmented  negro  population.  The  size  of  the  new  population 
of  St.  Louis  can  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  geographically 
it  is  the  first  city  of  the  North.     East  St.  Louis,  recently  made 

1  Fortune,  Report  on  Negro  Migration  to  the  East. 

2  Ibid. 


58  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

notorious  by  the  reception  which  it  accorded  its  newcomers,  is 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  satellite  towns,  all  of  which  made 
bids  for  labor  from  the  South  and  received  it.  Not  a  few 
negro  laborers  went  to  Kansas  City  from  which  many  were  re- 
routed to  other  points.  Nebraska  received  a  large  number  of 
migrants  as  a  direct  result  of  self-advertisement.  Omaha  was 
the  city  which  invited  them  and  received  the  bulk  of  immigra- 
tion to  that  State. 

Illinois,  the  one  State  known  throughout  the  South  because 
of  Chicago,  received  probably  the  heaviest  quota  of  any.  Located 
as  it  is  in  the  center  of  industry  for  the  Middle  West  and  known 
to  negroes  as  a  "  fair  "  State,  it  received  through  Chicago  as 
many  at  least  as  the  entire  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Chicago  is 
the  center  of  a  cluster  of  industrial  towns.  It  has  served  as  a 
point  of  distribution  through  its  numerous  employment  agencies 
for  the  territory  northwest  and  northeast,  Michigan  has  one 
large  city,  Detroit,  which  has  recently  increased  its  population 
one  hundred  per  cent  because  of  its  number  of  highly  developed 
industries  which  have  supplied  employment  for  its  rapidly  in- 
creasing population.^ 

The  eastern  cities  which  made  efforts  through  various  means 
to  augment  their  labor  supply  were  Pittsburgh,  Philadelphia, 
Newark,  New  York  City  and  Hartford.  It  is  manifestly  im- 
possible to  get  reliable  figures  on  the  volume  of  increase  in  the 
negro  population  of  any  of  these  cities.  All  that  is  available 
is  in  the  form  of  estimates  which  can  not  be  too  confidently 
relied  upon.  Estimates  based  on  the  average  number  of  arrivals 
from  the  South  per  day,  the  increase  in  the  school  population 
and  the  opinions  of  social  agencies  which  have  engaged  them- 
selves in  adjusting  the  newcomers  to  their  new  homes  appear 
to  agree  in  the  main. 

1  These  estimates  are  based  upon  the  reports  of  investigators  sent  to  make 
a  study  of  the  condition  of  the  migrants. 


CHAPTER  VI 
The  Draining  of  the  Black  Belt 

In  order  better  to  understand  the  migration  movement,  a 
special  study  of  it  was  made  for  five  adjoining  States,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  from  which  came 
more  than  half  of  all  migrants.  The  negro  population  of  these 
five  States  was  4,115,299,  which  was  almost  half  of  the  negro 
population  of  the  South.  In  the  particular  sections  of  these 
States  where  the  migration  was  the  heaviest,  the  one  crop  sys- 
tem, cotton,  was  general.  As  a  result  of  the  cotton  price  demor- 
alization resulting  from  the  war,  the  labor  depression,  the  rav- 
ages of  the  cotton  boll  weevil,  and  in  some  regions  unusual- 
floods,  as  already  stated,  there  was  in  this  section  of  the  South 
an  exceptionally  large  amount  of  surplus  labor.  The  several 
trunk  line  railroads  directly  connecting  this  section  with  the 
northern  industrial  centers  made  the  transportation  of  this  labor 
an  easy  matter. 

In  1915,  the  labor  depression  in  Georgia  was  critical  and 
work  at  remunerative  wages  was  scarce.  In  Atlanta  strong 
pressure  was  brought  to  bear  to  have  the  negroes  employed  in 
cleaning  the  streets  replaced  by  whites  who  were  out  of  work. 
It  was  reported  that  the  organized  charities  of  Macon,  in  dealing 
with  the  question  of  the  unemployed,  urged  whites  employing 
negroes  to  discharge  the  blacks  and  hire  whites.  Mr.  Bridges 
Smith,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  bitterly  opposed  this  suggestion. 
When  the  1915  cotton  crop  began  to  ripen  it  was  proposed  to 
compel  the  unemployed  negroes  in  the  towns  to  go  to  the  fields 
and  pick  cotton.  Commenting  editorially  on  this,  the  Atlanta 
Constitution  said : 

The  problem  of  the  unemployed  in  Albany,  Georgia,  is  being  dealt  with 
practically.  All  negroes  who  have  not  regular  employment  are  offered 
it   in   the   cotton   fields,   the   immense   crop    requiring  more   labor   than    the 

59 


60  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

plantations  ordinarily  have.  If  the  unemployed  refuse  the  opportunity,  the 
order  "move  on"  and  out  of  the  community  is  given  by  the  chief  of  police, 
and  the  order  must  be  obeyed.  Though  the  government  is  taking  up  very 
systematically  the  problem  of  the  unemployed,  its  solving  will  be  slow,  and 
the  government  aid  for  a  long  time  will  have  to  be  supplementary  to  work 
in  this  direction,  initiated  in  communities,  municipalities  and  States,  where 
the  problem  of  the  unemployed  is  usually  complex.^ 

In  the  course  of  time,  when  the  negroes  did  leave,  they 
departed  in  such  large  numbers  that  their  going  caused  alarm. 
Because  they  left  at  night  the  number  of  negroes  going  north 
from  the  immediate  vicinity  was  not  generally  realized.  One 
night  nearly  fifty  of  Tifton  boarded  northbound  passenger  trains, 
which  already  carried,  it  is  said,  some  three  hundred  negroes. 
Labor  agents  had  been  very  active  in  that  section  all  fall,  but 
so  cleverly  had  they  done  their  work  that  officers  had  not  been 
able  to  get  a  line  on  them.  For  several  weeks,  the  daily  exodus, 
it  is  said,  had  ranged  from  ten  to  twenty-five.^ 

Columbus  was  an  assembling  point  for  migrants  going  from 
east  Alabama  and  west  Georgia.  Railroad  tickets  would  be 
bought  from  local  stations  to  Columbus,  and  there  the  tickets 
or  transportation  for  the  North,  mainly  to  Chicago,  would  be 
secured.  Americus  was  in  many  respects  similarly  affected, 
having  had  many  of  its  important  industries  thereby  paralyzed, 
Albany,  a  railroad  center,  became  another  assembling  point  for 
migrants  from  another  area.  Although  difficulties  would  be 
experienced  in  leaving  the  smaller  places  directly  for  the  North, 
it  was  easy  to  purchase  a  ticket  to  Albany  and  later  depart  from 
that  town.  The  result  was  that  Albany  was  the  point  of  de- 
parture for  several  thousand  negroes,  of  whom  a  very  large 
percentage  did  not  come  from  the  towns  or  Dougherty  county 
in  which  Albany  is  situated.^ 

^Atlanta  Constitution,  August  28,  1915. 

2  Ibid.,  December  13,  1916.  _ 

3  A  leading  colored  physician  of  Albany  in  commenting  on  the  exodus 
said  :  "  A  considerable  number  went  from  town  and  county.  The  number 
was  not  near  so  great,  however,  as  from  other  counties."  He  was  of  the 
opinion  that  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  families  had  left.  He  said  that  his 
practice  had  not  been  affected.  Individuals  came  in  from  other  sections 
and  took  the  place  of  those  who  went  away.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that 
the  fever  was  about  over.  This  was  due  to  the  shortage  of  labor  created 
by  the  draft,  the   increase  in   wages  and  better  treatment,  particularly  the 


fe 


THE    DRAINING    OF    THE    BLACK    BELT  61 

A  negro  minister,  well  acquainted  with  the  situation  in  south- 
west Georgia,  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  greatest  number  had 
gone  from  Thomas  and  Mitchell  counties  and  the  towns  of 
Pelham  and  Thomasville.  Valdosta,  with  a  population  of  about 
8,000  equally  divided  between  the  races  became  a  clearing  house 
for  many  migrants  from  southern  Georgia.  The  pastor  of  one 
of  the  leading  churches  said  that  he  lost  twenty  per  cent  of  his 
members.  The  industrial  insurance  companies  reported  a  twenty 
per  cent  loss  in  membership/     Waycross,^  a  railroad  center  in 

latter.  Tenants  on  plantations  were  receiving  better  treatment  than  they 
formerly  received.  Some  plantation  owners  as  an  inducement  to  their 
tenants  were  furnishing  each  with  a  cow  and  a  sow.  Farm  labor  which  was 
formerly  paid  $8  to  $12  per  month,  now  received  from  $20  to  $30  per  month. 
He  said  he  knew  of  one  plantation  owner  who  was  paying  his  hands  $1.25 
per  day.  This  doctor  said  he  was  reliably  informed  that  many  negroes  had 
left  Lee  and  Calhoun  counties  and  the  whites  had  to  go  in  the  fields  and 
plow.  As  a  result  of  the  exodus,  the  white  and  colored  men  of  Albany 
had  got  closer  together.  He  had  recently  been  elected  a  member  of  the 
Albany  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  he  understood  that  about  twelve  colored 
men  had  been  invited  to  become  members  of  the  Chamber  to  assist  in 
working  for  the  development  of  the  county. 

One  of  the  colored  druggists  in  Georgia  said  that  Albany  was  a  central 
point,  and  that  a  great  many  came  from  Cuthbert,  Arlington,  Leary  and 
Calhoun,  Early  and  Miller  counties  to  Albany  as  a  starting  point  for  the 
North.  Many  went  from  Albany  to  Chicago  and  Philadelphia,  but  he  was 
of  the  opinion  that  the  largest  number  had  gone  to  New  Jersey.  Migration 
has  been  affected  by  the  draft  and  new  opportunities  opening  up  in  the 
South.  He  said  that  whites  became  alarmed  and  called  a  meeting  and 
invited  some  colored  persons  to  consult  with  them. — Work,  Report  on 
Migration  from  Georgia. 

1 "  The  migration  of  negroes  from  this  city  to  the  North  set  in  again 
this  week,  after  a  comparative  lull  of  two  months.  A  party  of  twelve  left 
here  yesterday  for  Jersey  City,  while  twenty  others  are  expected  to  leave 
shortly.  Many  women  are  going  with  the  men,  in  some  cases  leaving  their 
children.  Stories  of  suffering  from  cold,  brought  back  by  negroes  during 
this  winter,  checked  the  movement  considerably.  Several  hundred  negroes 
will  leave  here  this  spring." — Atlanta  Constitution,  March  26,  1917. 

-  A  report  from  there,  in  the  Savannah  Morning  News,  of  December  3, 
1916,  said:  "Hundreds  of  negroes  in  this  section  recently  have  been  fleeced 
by  white  men  posing  as  agents  of  large  employment  bureaus  and  mdustrial 
companies  in  the  eastern  States.  The  most  recent  instance  of  the  easy 
marks  is  reported  from  Coffee  county,  but  it  is  in  line  with  what  has  been 
happening  in  other  counties.  The  so-called  agent  collects  a  registration  fee, 
giving  in  return  for  the  money,  usually  one  or  two  dollars,  a  card  which  is 
said  to  entitle  the  bearer  to  a  position  at  such  and  such  a  plant.  The  negroes 
get  on  the  train  on  the  date  specified,  the  agent  meeting  them  at  the  station. 
He  tells  them  he  will  have  a  party  ticket  for  the  entire  number  and  to  tell 
the  conductor  to  collect  their  fares  from  him.  The  negroes  of  course  leave 
home  for  the  point  where  they  think  they  will  be  given  work,  and  apparently 
are  a  happy  lot.  But  when  ticket  collecting  time  comes  there  is  another 
story  to  tell. 

"  Thirty-seven  negroes  the  other  day  boarded  a  northbound  train  at 
Douglas   for  Pittsburgh.     The  agent  was  on  hand  to  check  each  one  and 


62  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

the  wire  grass  section  of  the  State,  with  a  population  of  7,700 
whites  and  6,700  negroes,  suffered  greatly  from  the  migration. 
Hundreds  of  negroes  in  this  section  were  induced  by  the  em- 
ployment bureaus  and  industrial  companies  in  eastern  States 
to  abandon  their  homes.  From  Brunswick,  one  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal seaports  in  Georgia,  went  1,000  negroes,  the  chief  occu- 
pation of  whom  was  stevedoring.  Savannah,  another  important 
seaport  on  the  south  Atlantic  coast,  with  a  population  of  about 
70,000,  saw  the  migration  attain  unusually  large  proportions, 
so  as  to  cause  almost  a  panic  and  to  lead  to  drastic  measures 
to  check  it. 

The  migration  was  from  all  sections  of  Florida.  The  heaviest 
movements  were  from  west  Florida,  from  Tampa  and  Jackson- 
ville. Capitola  early  reported  that  a  considerable  number  of 
negroes  left  that  vicinity,  some  going  north,  a  few  to  Jack- 
sonville and  others  to  south  Florida  to  work  on  the  truck  farms 
and  in  the  phosphate  mines.  A  large  number  of  them  migrated 
from  Tallahassee  to  Connecticut  to  work  in  the  tobacco  fields. 
Owing  to  the  depredations  of  the  boll  weevil,  many  others  went 
north.  Most  of  the  -migration  in  west  Florida,  however,  was 
rural  as  there  are  very  few  large  towns  in  that  section.  Yet, 
although  they  had  no  such  assembling  points  as  there  were  in 
other  parts  of  the  South,  about  thirty  or  thirty-five  per  cent 
of  the  labor  left.  In  north  central  Florida  near  Apalachicola 
fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent  of  the  labor  left.  In  middle  Florida 
around  Ocala  and  Gainesville  probably  twenty  to  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  the  laborers  left,  chiefly  because  of  the  low  wages. 
The  stretch  of  territory  between  Pensacola  and  Jacksonville  was 
said  to  be  one  of  the  most  neglected  sections  in  the  South,  the 
migration  being  largely  of  farm  tenants  with  a  considerable 
number  of  farm  owners.  There  were  cases  of  the  migration 
of  a  whole  community  including  the  pastor  of  the  church.* 

then  he  got  aboard,  or  so  the  negroes  thought.  A  few  miles  from  Douglas 
the  conductor  found  he  had  thirty-seven  ticketless  passengers  And  none 
of  the  negroes  had  the  money  to  pay  the  fare  to  Pittsburgh.  The  train  was 
stopped,  and  the  negroes  returned  home,  wiser  and  vowing  they  were  '  done 
with  leaving  home.'  Quite  a  number  of  negroes  have  come  to  Waycross  to 
meet  agents  and  go  north.  Before  coming  here  the  negroes  of  course  had 
contributed." 
1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Florida. 


THE    DRAIXIKG    OF    THE    BLACK    BELT  63 

Live  Oak,  a  small  town  in  Sewanee  county,  experienced  the 
same  upheaval,  losing  a  large  proportion  of  its  colored  popula- 
tion. Dunnelon,  a  small  town  in  the  southern  part  of  JMarion 
county,  soon  found  itself  in  the  same  situation.  Lakeland,  in 
Polk  county,  lost  about  one-third  of  its  negroes.  Not  less  than 
one-fourth  of  the  black  population  of  Orlando  was  swept  into 
this  movement.  Probably  half  of  the  negroes  of  Palatka,  Miami 
and  De  Land,  migrated  as  indicated  by  schools  and  churches, 
the  membership  of  which  decreased  one-half.  From  3,000  to 
5,000  negroes  migrated  from  Tampa  and  Hillsboro  county. 
Jacksonville,  the  largest  city  in  Florida,  with  a  population  of 
about  35,000  negroes,  lost  about  6,000  or  8,000  of  its  own  black 
population  and  served  as  an  assembling  point  for  14,000  or 
15.000  others  who  w^ent  to  the  North.' 

By  September,  1916,  the  movement  in  Alabama  was  well 
under  way.  In  Selma  there  was  made  the  complaint  that  a  new 
scheme  was  being  used  to  entice  negroes  away.  Instead  of  ad- 
vertising in  Alabama  papers,  the  schemes  of  the  labor  agents 
were  proclaimed  through  papers  published  in  other  States  and 
circulated  in  Alabama.  As  a  result  there  was  a  steady  migration 
of  negroes  from  Alabama -to  the  North  and  to  points  in  Tennes- 
see and  Arkansas  where  conditions  were  more  inviting  and 
wages  higher.  Estimates  appear  to  indicate,  however,  that  Ala- 
bama, through  the  migration,  lost  a  larger  proportion  of  her 
negro  population  than  did  any  one  of  the  other  southern 
States." 

From  Eufaula  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  it  w^as  re- 
ported in  September  that  trains  leaving  there  on  Sundays  in 
1916  were  packed  w'ith  negroes  going  north,  that  hundreds  left, 
joining  crowds  from  Clayton,  Clio  and  Ozark.  There  seemed 
to  be  a  "  free  ride  "  every  Sunday  and  many  were  giving  up 
lucrative  positions  there  to  go.  The  majority  of  these  negroes, 
how'ever,  went  from  the  country  where  they  had  had  a  dis- 
astrous experience  with  the  crops  of  the  year  1916  on  account 
of  the  July  floods.^    By  October  the  exodus  from  Dallas  county 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Florida. 

2  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Alabama. 
^Montgomery  (Alabama)  Advertiser,  September  27,  1916. 


G4  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

had  reached  such  alarming  proportions  that  farmers  and  business 
men  were  devising  means  to  stop  it. 

Bullock  county,  with  a  working  population  of  15,000  negroes, 
lost  about  one-third  and  in  addition  about  1,500  non-workers. 
The  reports  of  churches  as  to  the  loss  of  membership  at  certain 
points  justify  this  conclusion.  Hardly  any  of  the  churches 
escaped  without  a  serious  loss  and  the  percentage  in  most  cases 
was  from  twenty-five  to  seventy  per  cent/  It  seemed  that  these 
intolerable  conditions  did  not  obtain  in  Union  Springs.  xA.c- 
cording  to  persons  living  in  Kingston,  the  wealthiest  and  the 
most  prosperous  negroes  of  the  district  migrated.  In  October, 
1916,  some  of  the  first  large  groups  left  Mobile,  Alabama,  for 
the  Northwest.  The  report  says:  "Two  trainloads  of  negroes 
were  sent  over  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  to  work 
in  the  railroad  yards  and  on  the  tracks  in  the  West.  Thousands 
more  are  expected  to  leave  during  the  next  month." 

As  soon  as  the  exodus  got  well  under  way,  Birmingham  be- 
came one  of  the  chief  assembling  points  in  the  South  for  the 
migrants  and  was  one  of  the  chief  stations  on  the  way  north. 
Thousands  came  from  the  flood  and  boll  weevil  districts  to 
Birmingham.  The  records  of  the  negro  industrial  insurance 
companies  showed  the  effects  of  the  migration  both  from  and 
to  Birmingham.  The  Atlanta  Mutual  Insurance  Company  lost 
500  of  its  members  and  added  2,000.  Its  debit  for  November, 
1916,  was  $502.25;  for  November,  1917,  it  was  $740.  The 
business  of  the  Union  Central  Relief  Association  was  greatly 
affected  by  the  migration.  The  company  in  1916  lost  heavily. 
In  1917  it  cleared  some  money. 

The  State  of  Mississippi,  with  a  larger  percentage  of  negroes 
than  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  naturally  lost  a  large  num- 
ber of   its  working  population.     There  has  been   in  progress 

1  The  investigator  had  been  in  Union  Springs  on  a  Saturday  before  there 
was  a  migration.  The  crowds  on  the  streets  were  so  great  that  it  was  difficult 
for  one  to  pass.  On  Saturday,  November  17,  1917,  the  investigator  was 
again  in  Union  Springs.  It  was  an  ideal  autumn  day.  Good  crops  had  been 
made  in  the  county.  Especially  high  prices  were  being  paid  for  all  sorts  of 
farm  produce.  The  market  season  was  on.  Court  was  in  session.  The 
streets,  however,  had  about  the  crowds  to  be  found  on  some  days,  other 
than  Saturday,  before  the  migration  began. 


THE    DRAINING    OF    THE    BLACK    BELT  65 

for  a  number  of  years  a  movement  from  the  hill  counties  of  the 
State  of  Mississippi  to  the  Delta,  and  from  the  Delta  to  Arkan- 
sas. The  interstate  migration  has  resulted  from  the  land  poverty 
of  the  hill  country  and  from  intimidation  of  the  "  poor  whites  " 
particularly  in  Amite,  Lincoln,  Franklin  and  Wilkinson  counties. 
In  1908  when  the  floods  and  boll  weevil  worked  such  general 
havoc  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  State,  labor  agents 
from  the  Delta  went  down  and  carried  away  thousands  of  fam- 
ilies. It  is  estimated  that  more  than  8,000  negroes  left  Adams 
county  during  the  first  two  years  of  the  boll  weevil  period. 
Census  figures  for  1910  show  that  the  southwestern  counties 
suffered  a  loss  of  18,000  negroes.  The  migration  of  recent 
years  to  adjacent  States  has  been  principally  to  Arkansas.^ 

Jackson,  the  capital  of  Mississippi,  seriously  felt  the  migra- 
tion. The  majority  of  the  "  loAver  middle  class  "  of  negroes, 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  business  men  and  fully  one-third  of 
the  professional  men  left  the  city — in  all  between  2,000  and 
5,000.  Two  of  the  largest  churches  lost  their  pastors  and  about 
200  of  each  of  their  memberships.  Other  churches  suffered  a 
decrease  of  forty  per  cent  in  their  communicants.  Two-thirds 
of  the  remaining  families  in  Jackson  are  part  families  with  rel- 
atives who  have  recently  migrated  to  the  North. 

For  years  the  negroes  of  Greenville  have  been  unsettled  and 
dissatisfied  to  the  extent  of  leaving.  Negroes  came  from  Leland 
to  Greenville  to  start  for  the  North.  This  condition  has  ob- 
tained there  ever  since  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago,  when 
families  first  learned  to  go  to  that  section  whenever  oppor- 
tunities for  establishment  were  offered  them.  Although  the 
negroes  from  Greenville  are  usually  prosperous,  during  this 
exodus  they  have  mortgaged  their  property  or  placed  it  in  the 
hands  of  friends  on  leaving  for  the  North.     Statistics  indicate 

1  The  reasons  back  of  this,  as  obtained  from  migrants  themselves,  are 
that,  except  in  the  town  of  Mound  Bayou,  negroes  have  not  been  encouraged 
to  own  property  or  rent,  but  to  work  on  shares;  in  Arkansas  it  is  possible 
to  buy  good  land  cheaply  and  on  reasonable  terms  ;  inducements  are  offered 
by  Arkansas  in  the  form  of  better  treatment  and  schools  ;  there  are  no  such 
"excessive"  taxes  as  are  required  in  the  ^Mississippi  Delta  to  protect  them 
from  the  overflows ;  the  boll  weevil  has  not  yet  seriously  affected  that 
State,  and  a  small  farmer  may  be  fairly  independent  in  Arkansas. 


66  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

that  in  the  early  part  of  the  movement  at  least  1,000  left  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Greenville  and  since  that  time  others  have 
continued  to  go  in  large  numbers.^ 

Greenw^ood,  with  a  population  evenly  balanced  between  the 
white  and  black,  had  passed  through  the  unusual  crisis  of  bad 
crops  and  the  invasion  of  the  boll  weevil.  The  migration  from 
this  point,  therefore,  was  at  first  a  relief  to  the  city  rather  than 
a  loss.  The  negroes,  in  the  beginning,  therefore,  moved  into 
the  Delta  and  out  to  Arkansas  until  the  call  for  laborers  in  the 
North.  The  migration  from  this  point  to  the  North  reached 
its  height  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  1916  and  1917.  The 
migrants  would  say  that  they  were  going  to  Memphis,  but  when 
you  next  heard  from  them  they  would  be  in  Chicago,  St.  Louis 
or  Detroit.  The  police  at  the  Illinois  Central  depot  had  been 
handling  men  roughly.  When  they  were  rude  to  one,  ten  or 
twelve  left.  Young  men  usually  left  on  night  trains.  Next  day 
their  friends  would  say,  "Ten  left  last  night,"  or,  "  Twelve  left 
last  night."  In  this  manner  the  stream  started.  Friends  would 
notify  others  of  the  time  and  place  of  special  trains.  The  type 
of  negro  leaving  is  indicated  in  the  decline  in  the  church  mem- 
bership. Over  300  of  those  who  left  were  actively  connected 
with  some  church.     During  the  summer  of  1917,   100  houses 

1  The  lumber  mills  and  the  local  corporations  provide  a  great  part  of 
the  work  for  laborers  in  the  city.  Wages  last  year  ranged  from  $1.25  to 
$1.50  a  day.  Wages  at  present  are  $1.75  and  $2  a  day.  Cotton  picking  last 
year  brought  60  and  75  cents  a  hundred;  at  present  $2  is  paid  for  every 
hundred  pounds  picked.  The  city  has  enacted  "  move  on  "  laws  intending 
to  get  rid  of  drones.  The  police,  it  is  said,  could  not  distinguish  drones 
from  "  all  negroes." 

It  was  further  complained  that  the  police  deputies  and  sheriffs  are  too 
free  with  the  use  of  their  clubs  and  guns  when  a  negro  is   involved.     It 

was  related  that  Dr.  ,  practising  47  years  in  Greenville,  Mississippi,  was 

driving  his  buggy  in  a  crowded  street  on  circus  day  when  he  was  com- 
manded by  a  policeman  to  drive  to  one  side  and  let  a  man  pass.  He  replied 
that  he  could  not  because  he  himself  was  jammed.  He  was  commanded 
again  and  then  dragged  from  the  buggy,  clubbed  and  haled  into  the  police 
court  and  fined.  The  officer  who  arrested  him  swore  that  he  had  given 
frequent  trouble,  which  was  untrue  according  to  reliable  testimony  and  his 
own  statement.     This  incident  is  also  told : 

A  policeman's  friend  needed  a  cook.  The  policeman  drove  by  a  negro 
home  and,  seeing  a  woman  on  the  porch,  told  her  to  get  in  the  buggy.  No 
questions  were  permitted.  She  was  carried  to  his  friend's  home  and  told 
to  work.  The  woman  prepared  one  meal  and  left  the  city  for  the  North. — 
Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


THE    DRAINING   OF    THE    BLACK    BELT  67 

Stood  vacant  in  the  town  and  over  300  were  abandoned  in  the 
McShein  addition.  As  the  crops  were  gathered  people  moved 
in  from  the  country,  from  the  southern  part  of  the  State  and 
from  the  "hills  "  generally  to  take  the  places  of  those  who  had 
left  for  the  North, 

There  was  no  concerted  movement  from  Clarksdale,  a  town 
with  a  population  of  about  400  whites  and  600  blacks;  but 
families  appeared  to  slip  away  because  of  the  restlessness  and 
uneasiness  in  evidence  everywhere.  From  the  rural  district 
around  there  was  considerable  migration  to  Arkansas,  but  con- 
siderable numbers  were  influenced  to  leave  for  Buffalo  and 
Chicago.  Mound  Bayou  lost  some  of  its  population  also  to 
Arkansas  and  the  North,  as  they  could  buy  land  cheaper  in 
the  former  and  find  more  lucrative  employment  in  the  latter. 
Natchez  did  not  suffer  a  serious  loss  of  population  until  the 
invasion  of  the  boll  weevil  and  the  floods. 

Hattiesburg,  a  large  lumber  center,  was  at  the  beginning  of 
the  exodus,  almost  depopulated.  Some  of  the  first  migrants 
went  to  Pennsylvania  but  the  larger  number  went  to  Chicago. 
It  became  a  rallying  point  for  many  negroes  who  assembled 
there  ostensibly  to  go  to  New  Orleans,  at  which  place  they 
easily  provided  for  their  transportation  to  Chicago  and  other 
points  in  the  North.  From  Laurel  in  Jones  county,  a  large 
sawmill  district,  it  is  estimated  that,  between  4,000  and  5,000 
negroes  moved  north.  About  3,000  left  Meridian  for  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  Detroit  and  Pittsburgh.  Indianola,  a  town  with  a  num- 
ber of  negro  independent  enterprises,  also  became  upset  by  this 
movement,  losing  a  considerable  number  of  progressive  families. 
Gulfport,  a  coast  town  a  short  distance  from  New  Orleans,  lost 
about  one-third  of  its  negro  population.  About  45  families 
left  Bobo  for  Arkansas,  and*  15  families  went  to  the  North. 
Johnstown,  Mississippi,  lost  150  of  its  400  negroes.^ 

The  owners  of  turpentine  industries  and  lumber  plants  in 
southeastern  Mississippi  were  especially  affected  by  the  exodus. 
In  Hinds,  Copiah,  Lincoln,  Rankin,  Newton  and  Lake  counties, 
many  white  residents  rather  than  suffer  their  crops  to  be  lost, 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


68  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

worked  in  the  fields.  It  was  reported  that  numbers  of  these 
whites  were  leaving  for  the  Delta  and  for  Kentucky,  Tennessee 
and  Arkansas.  Firms  there  attempted  to  look  in  the  North 
that  they  might  send  for  the  negroes  whom  they  had  pre- 
viously employed,  promising  them  an  advance  in  wages. 

At  the  same  time  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  was  carrying 
from  New  Orleans  and  other  parts  of  Louisiana  thousands  into 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Michigan.  At  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
station  in  that  city,  the  agent  had  been  having  his  hands  full 
taking  names  of  colored  laborers  wanting  and  waiting  to  go 
North.  About  the  first  of  April,  1917,  there  came  also  the 
reports  from  New  Orleans  that  300  negro  laborers  left  there 
on  the  Southern  Pacific  steamer  for  New  York,  and  500  more 
left  later  on  another  of  the  same  company's  steamships  bound 
also  for  New  York,  it  was  said,  to  work  for  the  company. 
Thousands  thus  left  for  the  North  and  West  and  East,  the 
number  reaching  over  1,200. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  this  migration  from  the  South 
followed  the  path  marked  out  by  the  Underground  Railroad 
of  antebellum  days.  Negroes  from  the  rural  districts  moved 
first  to  the  nearest  village  or  town,  then  to  the  city.  On  the 
plantations  it  was  not  regarded  safe  to  arrange  for  transporta- 
tion to  the  North  through  receiving  and  sending  letters.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  towns  and  cities  there  was  more  security 
in  meeting  labor  agents.  The  result  of  it  was  that  cities  like 
New  Orleans,  Birmingham,  Jacksonville,  Savannah  and  Mem- 
phis became  concentration  points.  From  these  cities  migrants 
were  rerouted  along  the  lines  most  in  favor. 

The  principal  difference  between  this  course  and  the  Under- 
ground Railroad  was  that  in  the  later  movement  the  southern- 
most States  contributed  the  largest  numbers.  This  perhaps  is 
due  in  part  to  the  selection  of  Florida  and  Georgia  by  the  first 
concerns  offering  the  inducement  of  free  transportation,  and 
at  the  same  time  it  accounts  for  the  very  general  and  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  movement  by  the  people  in  States  through 
which  they  were  forced  to  pass.  In  Hattiesburg,  Mississippi, 
for  example,  the  first  intimation  of  a  great  movement  of  negroes 


THE    DRAINING    OF    THE    BLACK    BELT  69 

to  the  North  came  through  reports  that  thousands  of  negroes 
were  leaving  Florida  for  the  North.  To  the  negroes  of  Florida, 
South  Carolina,  Virginia  and  Georgia  the  North  means  Penn- 
sylvania, New  Jersey,  New  York  and  New  England.  The  route 
is  more  direct,  and  it  is  this  section  of  the  northern  expanse 
of  the  United  States  that  gets  widest  advertisement  through 
tourists,  and  passengers  and  porters  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
steamers.  The  northern  newspapers  with  the  greatest  circula- 
tion are  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  the  New  York 
colored  weeklies  are  widely  read.  Reports  from  all  of  these 
south  Atlantic  States  indicate  that  comparatively  few  persons 
ventured  into  the  Northwest  when  a  better  known  country  lay 
before  them. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  one  of  the  first  to  import  laborers 
in  large  numbers,  reports  that  of  the  12,000  persons  brought 
to  Pennsylvania  over  its  road,  all  but  2,000  were  from  Florida 
and  Georgia,  The  tendency  was  to  continue  along  the  first 
definite  path.  Each  member  of  the  vanguard  controlled  a  small 
group  of  friends  at  home,  if  only  the  members  of  his  immediate 
family.  Letters  sent  back,  representing  that  section  of  the  North 
and  giving  directions  concerning  the  route  best  known,  easily 
influenced  the  next  groups  to  join  their  friends  rather  than 
explore  new  fields.  In  fact,  it  is  evident  throughout  the  move- 
ment that  the  most  congested  points  in  the  North  when  the 
migration  reached  its  height,  were  those  favorite  cities  to  which 
the  first  group  had  gone.^  An  intensive  study  of  a  group  of  77 
families  from  the  South,  selected  at  random  in  Chicago,  showed 
but  one  family  from  Florida  and  no  representation  at  all  from 
North  and  South  Carolina.  A  tabulation  of  figures  and  facts 
from  500  applications  for  work  by  the  Chicago  League  on 
Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes  gives  but  a  few  persons 
from  North  Carolina,  twelve  from  South  Carolina  and  one 
from  Virginia.  The  largest  number,  102.  came  from  Georgia. 
Applicants  for  work  in  New  York  from  the  south  Atlantic 
States  are  overwhelming.^ 

1  Johnson,  Report  on   the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 

2  Ibid. 


70  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

For  the  east  and  west  south  central  States,  the  Northwest 
was  more  accessible  and  better  known.  St.  Louis  and  Cin- 
cinnati are  the  nearest  northern  cities  to  the  South  and  excur- 
sions have  frequently  been  run  there  from  New  Orleans,  through 
the  State  of  Mississippi.  There  are  in  St.  Louis,  as  in  other 
more  northern  cities,  little  communities  of  negroes  from  the 
different  sections  of  the  South.  The  mail  order  and  clothing 
houses  of  Chicago  have  advertised  this  city  throughout  the 
South.  The  convenience  of  transportation  makes  the  Northwest 
a  popular  destination  for  migrants  from  Mississippi,  Alabama. 
Louisiana,  Texas  and  Tennessee.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
runs  directly  to  New  Orleans  through  Tennessee  and  Mississippi. 

There  were  other  incidental  factors  which  determined  the 
course  of  the  movement.  Free  trains  from  different  sections 
broke  new  paths  by  overcoming  the  obstacles  of  funds  for  trans- 
portation. No  questions  were  asked  of  the  passengers,  and,  in 
some  instances,  as  many  as  were  disposed  to  leave  were  carried. 
When  once  they  had  advanced  beyond  the  Mason  and  Dixon 
line,  many  fearing  that  fees  for  transportation  would  be  de- 
ducted from  subsequent  pay,  if  they  were  in  the  employ  of 
the  parties  who,  as  they  understood,  were  advancing  their  fares. 
deserted  the  train  at  almost  any  point  that  looked  attractive. 
Employment  could  be  easily  secured  and  at  good  wages.  Many 
of  these  unexpected  and  premature  destinations  became  the 
nucleuses  for  small  colonies  whose  growth  was  stimulated  and 
assisted  by  the  United  States  postal  service. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Efforts  to  Check  the  Movement 

The  departure  of  the  first  negroes  usually  elicited  no  concern 
from  the  authorities.  It  was  assumed  that  their  actions  were 
merely  expressions  of  the  negro's  "  love  for  travel,"  and  that 
they  would  soon  return.  When,  however,  they  did  not  return 
and  hosts  of  others  followed,  the  white  South  became  deeply 
concerned  and  endeavored  to  check  the  movement.  Throughout 
the  exodus  drastic  legislation  and  force  were  employed.  In 
Alabama,  Arkansas,  Mississippi  and  Georgia  laws  were  passed 
in  an  effort  to  suppress  the  activities  of  labor  agents.  Licenses 
were  made  prohibitively  high;  labor  agents  were  arrested  and 
heavily  fined.  In  some  cases  their  coming  was  penalized  to 
prohibit  their  operations  entirely  and  they  frequently  suffered 
physical  injury. 

In  Florida  labor  recruiting  early  assumed  a  serious  aspect. 
Precaution  was,  therefore,  taken  to  impede  the  progress  of  the 
work  of  labor  agents  among  negroes,  at  first  by  moral  suasion 
and  then  by  actual  force.  The  cities  and  towns  of  this  State 
enacted  measures  requiring  a  very  high  license  of  labor  agents, 
imposing  in  case  of  failure  to  comply  with  these  regulations,  a 
penalty  of  imprisonment.  For  example,  in  Tampa  when  these 
operations  were  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  authorities. 
Joe  Robinson,  a  negro  officer,  was  detailed  to  investigate  the 
matter.  He  discovered  that  one  Joyce  and  another  negro  named 
Alex  Reeves  were  implicated  in  the  movement.  These  men 
were  charged  with  having  collected  $7  from  each  of  several 
hundred  negroes  who  wanted  to  go  to  Pennsylvania.  A  meet- 
ing among  the  negroes  of  Tampa  was  then  held  to  secure  pledges 
of  assistance  for  the  negro  officer,  then  making  an  effort  to 
prevent  the  exodus.  Being  under  the  impression  that  the  ig- 
norant members   of  their   race   were  being  imposed  upon   by 

72 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  73 

agents  from  without,  many  of  these  leading  negroes  pledged 
themselves  to  assist  in  the  suppression  of  it.^ 

In  Jacksonville,  where  the  labor  agents  flourished,  the  City 
Council  passed  an  ordinance  requiring  that  migration  agents 
should  pay  $1,000  license  to  recruit  labor  sent  out  of  the  State 
under  penalty  of  $600  fine  and  60  days  in  jail.  Several  police 
detectives  were  assigned  the  task  of  arresting  those  who  were 
said  to  be  spreading  false  reports  among  negroes  there  to  the 
effect  that  special  trains  were  ready  on  various  specified  dates 
to  take  them  to  points  in  the  North.  When,  therefore,  large 
crowds  of  negroes  gathered  near  the  Union  Depot  in  Jack- 
sonville, awaiting  the  so-called  special  train,  they  were  handled 
rather  roughly  by  the  police  when  it  was  shown  that  they  had 
not  purchased  tickets  and  there  was  no  one  to  vouch  for  their 
transportation. 

The  same  condition  with  respect  to  the  apparent  necessity 
for  prohibitive  measures  obtained  in  Georgia.  The  local  gov- 
ernments early  took  action  to  prevent  the  drain  of  the  labor 
population  to  northern  States  through  the  operation  of  labor 
agents.  It  was  soon  observed,  however,  that  these  agents  worked 
out  their  schemes  so  clandestinely  that  it  was  impossible  to 
check  the  movement  by  such  measures.  Fearing  that  the  general 
unrest  among  the  negroes  of  the  city  and  the  efforts  that  were 
being  put  forth  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  to  keep  them 
from  being  transported  from  Macon  to  the  North,  might  result 
in  a  riot  with  which  the  city  authorities  would  not  be  able 
to  cope,  Chief  of  Police  George  S.  Riley  recommended  to  the 
civil  service  commission  that  forty  magazine  rifles  be  purchased 
for  the  police  department.^  At  that  time  the  police  had  only 
their  pistols  and  clubs.  It  was  said  that  surliness  then  existed 
among  certain  negroes  and  the  police  wanted  to  be  able  to  cope 
with  any  situation  that  might  arise.  The  City  Council,  there- 
after, raised  the  license  fee  for  labor  agents  to  $25,000,  requir- 
ing also  that  such  an  agent  be  recommended  by  ten  local  min- 
isters, ten  manufacturers  and  twenty-five  business  men.     The 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Florida. 

2  Atlantic  Constitution,  November  1,  1916, 


74  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

police  of  Macon  were  very  active  in  running  down  labor  agents 
violating  this  law. 

Americus  was  honeycombed  and  carefully  watched  and 
searched  for  persons  inducing  negroes  to  migrate,  as  there  was 
a  large  exodus  of  negroes  from  this  city  to  the  tobacco  fields 
of  Connecticut,  Negroes  attempting  to  leave  were  arrested  and 
held  to  see  if  by  legal  measures  they  could  be  deterred  from 
going  North.  The  officers  in  charge  of  this  raid  were  armed 
with  State  warrants  charging  misdemeanors  and  assisted  by  a 
formidable  array  of  policemen  and  deputy  sheriffs.  Negroes 
were  roughly  taken  from  the  trains  and  crowded  into  the  prisons 
to  await  trial  for  these  so-called  misdemeanors.  Although  the 
majority  of  them  were  set  free  after  their  trains  had  left  the 
city,  the  leaders  in  most  cases  suffered  humiliation  at  the  hands 
of  the  officers  of  the  law.^ 

At  Thomasville,  a  white  man  and  a  negro  were  arrested, 
charged  with  the  usual  crime  of  being  labor  agents.  Much  ex- 
citement followed.  Fearing  serious  results,  the  colored  ministers 
of  this  city  endeavored  to  stop  the  exodus.  A  committee  of 
their  most  prominent  citizens  met  with  the  mayor  and  discussed 
the  matter  freely.  They  arranged  for  a  large  mass  meeting  of 
white  and  colored  citizens  who  undertook  to  cooperate  in  bring- 
ing the  exodus  to  an  end.  The  white  citizens  of  Waycross  ex- 
perienced the  same  trouble  with  labor  agents,  but  had  much 
difficulty  in  finding  out  exactly  who  they  were  and  how  they 
contrived  to  make  such  inroads  on  the  population.^ 

The  situation  became  more  critical  in  Savannah,  one  of  the 
largest  assembling  points  for  migrants  in  the  South.  When  the 
loss  of  labor  became  so  serious  and  ordinary  efforts  to  check 
it  failed,  more  drastic  measures  were  resorted  to.  On  the  thir- 
teenth of  August,  for  example,  when  there  spread  through  the 
city  the  rumor  that  two  special  trains  would  leave  for  the  North, 
there  followed  great  commotion  among  the  negroes,  who,  already 
much  disturbed  by  the  agitation  for  and  against  the  movement, 
were  easily  induced  to  start  for  the  North.    When,  at  about  five 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Georgia. 

2  Ibid. 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  75 

o'clock  that  morning,  2,000  negroes  assembled  at  the  station 
for.  this  purpose,  the  county  poHce,  augmented  by  a  detachment 
of  city  officers,  appeared  at  the  station  and  attempted  to  clear 
the  tracks;  but  the  crowd  being  so  large  the  officers  finally  found 
their  task  impossible,  for  as  they  would  clear  one  section  of  the 
tracks  the  crowd  would  surge  to  another.  The  crowd  was 
extremely  orderly  and  good  natured  and  the  two  arrests  that 
were  made  were  for  minor  offenses.  As  these  trains  failed  to 
move  according  to  orders,  over  300  of  this  group  paid  their 
own  fares  and  proceeded  to  the  North.^ 

A  few  days  later  Savannah  reached  a  crisis  in  the  labor  move- 
ment agitation,  when  over  100  negroes  were  placed  under  arrest 
at  the  Union  Depot  and  sent  to  the  police  barracks.  Several 
patrol  wagon  loads  of  police  arrived  at  the  station  and  imme- 
diately a  cordon  was  formed  by  the  police  around  all  negroes 
in  the  lobby  and  every  exit  from  the  station  was  guarded.  By 
this  unusual  sight  many  persons  were  attracted  to  the  station 
and  excitement  ran  high.  Many  negroes  were  arrested  with 
a  view  to  finding  out  the  leaders  of  the  movement,  but  upon 
failure  to  discover  the  facts  in  the  case  the  lieutenant  in  charge 
ordered  the  men  in  custody  to  be  incarcerated  on  charges  of 
loitering. 

To  show  how  groundless  these  charges  were,  one  need  but 
to  note  the  character  of  some  of  the  persons  arrested.  Four 
carpenters  from  Lumpkin,  Georgia,  had  just  arrived  and  were 
•waiting  for  a  contractor  for  whom  they  had  agreed  to  work  a 
short  distance  from  the  city.  Another  young  man  entered  the 
station  to  purchase  a  ticket  to  Burroughs,  Georgia,  to  see  rela- 
tives, but  he  was  not  only  incarcerated  but  had  to  give  a  bond 
of  $100  for  his  appearance  nCxt  morning.  Another  young  man, 
working  for  the  Pullman  Company,  entered  the  depot  to  cash 
a  check  for  $11  when  he  was  arrested,  sent  to  jail  and  searched. 
Still  another,  a  middle-aged  man  of  most  pleasing  appearance, 
had  just  arrived  from  Jacksonville,  Florida,  and  was  waiting 
in  the  station  until  the  time  to  proceed  by  boat  that  afternoon 
to  New  York.     On  one  occasion,  J.  H.  Butler,  manager  of  the 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Georgia. 


Y6  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

Savannah  Tribune,  a  negro  newspaper,  was  arrested  charged 
with  violation  of  the  city  and  State  law  of  sending  labor*  out 
of  the  city.  He  was  obliged  to  give  bond  of  $400  to  appear 
in  court  the  next  day.  At  the  same  time  seventeen  college  boys 
who  were  waiting  at  a  New  York  steamer  dock  were  also  appre- 
hended. The  trial  of  the  men  before  the  recorder  proved  farcical, 
not  a  single  one  of  the  hundred  or  more  prisoners  being  required 
to  testify.  After  the  chief  of  the  detective  force  and  several 
police  lieutenants  had  testified.  Recorder  Schwartz  ordered  the 
men  all  released,  but  not  before  he  had  taken  occasion  to  upbraid 
the  police  force  for  the  unnecessarily  large  number  of  arrests.^ 

Alabama  was  equally  alive  to  the  need  to  suppress  the  migra- 
tion propaganda  among  negroes.  To  this  end  the  Montgomery 
City  Commission  on  September  19,  1916,  passed  an  ordinance 
to  the  effect  that  any  person  who  would  entice,  persuade  or 
influence  any  laborer  or  other  person  to  leave  the  city  of  Mont- 
gomery for  the  purpose  of  being  employed  at  any  other  place 
as  a  laborer  must  on  conviction  be  fined  not  less  than  one  nor 
more  than  one  hundred  dollars,  or  may  be  sentenced  to  hard 
labor  for  the  city,  for  not  more  than  six  months,  one  or  both 
in  the  discretion  of  the  court.  The  other  ordinance  provided 
that  any  person,  firm  or  corporation  who  published,  printed  or 
wrote  or  delivered  or  distributed  or  posted  or  caused  to  be 
published,  printed  or  written  or  delivered  or  distributed  or 
posted,  any  advertisement,  letter,  newspaper,  pamphlet,  hand- 
bill or  other  writing,  for  the  purpose  of  enticing,  persuading 
or  influencing  any  laborer  or  other  person  to  leave  the  city  of 
Montgomery  for  the  purpose  of  being  employed  at  any  other 
place  as  a  laborer  must  on  conviction  be  fined  not  less  than 
one  hundred  dollars,  or  may  be  sentenced  to  hard  labor  for 
the  city  for  not  more  than  six  months,  one  or  both  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  court.  Labor  agents  and  other  leaders  both  white 
and  black  were  arrested  throughout  the  State  in  accordance  with 
the  usual  custom  of  preferring  technical  charges.^ 

The  treatment  of  the  movement  in  Mississippi  was  no  ex- 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Georgia. 

2  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Alabama. 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  77 

ception  to  the  rule.  At  Jackson,  the  "  pass  riders,"  as  they  were 
called,  were  so  molested  by  the  police  that  they  were  finally 
driven  from  the  town.  In  the  same  town  the  citizens  were 
reported  to  have  forced  the  railroads  to  discontinue  the  use  of 
passes  on  the  threat  of  damaging  their  interests  and  influencing 
decisions  in  court  cases.  Negroes  were  secretly  enticed  away, 
however,  after  they  had  been  dispersed  from  the  railway  sta- 
tions and  imprisoned  when  in  the  act  of  boarding  the  trains. 
The  police  interfered  at  one  time  with  negroes  leaving,  espe- 
cially when  it  was  suspected  that  they  were  leaving  on  passes. 
To  circumvent  this,  negroes  would  go  two  or  three  stations 
below  Jackson  where  there  were  no  policemen  and  board  the 
trains.  It  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  whites  and  blacks 
who  observed  the  almost  frantic  efforts  to  leave  the  town,  that 
any  attempt  to  hinder  by  intimidation  or  by  making  it  difBcult 
to  leave,  simply  served  to  make  them  more  determined  to  leave.^ 

At  Greenville,  Mississippi,  trains  were  stopped.  Negroes  were 
dragged  therefrom  and  others  were  prevented  from  boarding 
them.  Strangers  were  searched  for  evidence  that  might  con- 
vict them  as  labor  agents.  It  is  also  reported  that  local  authori- 
ties were  reprimanded  for  interfering  with  interstate  commerce. 
At  Greenwood  there  was  much  complaint  against  the  brutality 
of  the  police,  whose  efforts  to  intimidate  negroes  carried  them 
beyond  bounds.  A  chartered  car  carrying  fifty  men  and  women 
was  sidetracked  at  Brookhaven  for  three  days.  The  man  con- 
ducting the  passengers  was  arrested,  but  when  no  charge  was 
brought  against  him,  he  was  released.^ 

A  Hattiesburg,  Mississippi,  ticket  agent  attempted  on  the  ad- 
vice of  citizens  to  interfere  with  negroes  leaving  by  refusing 
to  sell  tickets.  Some  one  called  the  attention  of  the  general 
superintendent  to  the  matter.  Thereafter  the  man  was  courteous 
and  even  assisted  the  migrants.  Police  arrested  one  or  two  men 
at  the  station,  and,  according  to  one  of  the  men,  made  the 
crowd  so  angry  that  they  swore  they  would  not  stop  until  all 
had  gone.     There  are  cited  further  instances  of  letters  to  plan- 

^  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 
2  Ibid. 


78  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

tation  hands  which  were  detained  and  telegrams  which  were 
delayed.  At  Meridian,  Mississippi,  a  trainload  of  negroes  en 
route  to  the  North  was  held  up  by  the  chief  of  police  on  a 
technical  charge.  It  is  said  that  the  United  States  marshal 
arrested  him  and  placed  him  under  heavy  bond  for  delaying  the 
train.  The  federal  authorities  were  importuned  to  stop  the 
movement.  They  withdrew  the  assistance  of  the  Employment 
Department,  but  admitted  that  they  could  not  stop  the  interstate 
migration.^ 

One  remarked,  however,  "  It  will  scarcely  be  possible,  to  make 
a  sectional  issue  of  these  Columbus  convictions,  as  the  charge 
of  '  enticing  away  of  labor  '  in  that  country  is  aimed  at  certain 
Arkansas  planters  who  carried  away  several  carloads  of  negroes 
to  work  on  their  places,  leaving  the  Mississippi  employers  with- 
out the  labor  to  gather  or  grow  their  crops.  It  can  not,  there- 
fore, be  interpreted  as  an  attempt  to  keep  the  negro  in  semi- 
slavery  in  the  South  and  prevent  him  from  going  to  work  at 
better  wages  in  the  northern  munition  factories;  it  is  only  an 
effort  to  protect  Mississippi  employers  from  Arkansas  planters."  ^ 

The  alarm  felt  over  the  exodus  prompted  the  mayor  of  New 
Orleans  to  telegraph  the  president  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, asking  that  his  road  stop  carrying  negroes  to  the  North. 
The  latter  replied  that  he  had  viewed  with  much  concern  the 
heavy  exodus  of  negro  labor  from  the  South  during  the  past 
year,  and,  because  of  his  very  important  interest  in  that  section, 
it  was  not  to  his  advantage  to  encourage  it,  but  as  common 
carriers,  they  could  not  refuse  to  sell  tickets  or  to  provide  the 
necessary  transportation.  It  seemed  to  him  that  as  long  as  their 
friends  and  kinsmen  who  had  preceded  them  to  the  North  and 
East  were  receiving  a  high  scale  of  wages,  the  South  would 
have  to  look  for  continued  movement.^ 

After  having  enforced  these  drastic  measures  without  securing 
satisfactory  results,  and  having  seen  that  any  attempt  to  hold 
the  negroes  by  force  resulted  apparently  in  an  increased  deter- 
mination to  leave,  there  was  resort  to  the  policy  of  frightening 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 

2  Times  Picayune,  New  Orleans,  October  1,  1916. 

3  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Louisiana. 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  79 

the  negroes  away  from  the  North  by  circulating  rumors  as  to 
the  misfortunes  to  be  experienced  there.  Negroes  were  then 
warned  against  the  rigors  of  the  northern  winter  and  the  death 
rate  from  pneumonia  and  tuberculosis.  Social  workers  in  the 
North  reported  frequent  cases  of  men  with  simple  colds  who 
actually  believed  that  they  had  developed  "  consumption." 
Speakers  who  wished  to  discourage  the  exodus  reported  "  exact  " 
figures  on  the  death  rate  of  the  migrants  in  the  North  that  were 
astounding.  As,  for  example,  it  was  said  by  one  Reverend 
Mr.  Parks  that  there  were  2,000  of  them  sick  in  Philadelphia. 
The  editor  of  a  leading  white  paper  in  Jackson,  Mississippi, 
made  the  remark  that  he  feared  that  the  result  of  the  first 
winter's  experience  in  the  North  would  prove  serious  to  the 
South,  in  so  far  as  it  would  remove  the  bugbear  of  the  northern 
climate.  The  Returned  migrants  were  encouraged  to  speak  in 
disparagement  of  the  North  and  to  give  wide  publicity  to  their 
utterances,  emphasizing  incidents  of  suffering  reported  through 
the  press. 

When  such  efforts  as  these  failed,  however,  the  disconcerted 
planters  and  business  men  of  the  South  resorted  to  another 
plan.  Reconciliation  and  persuasion  were  tried.  Meetings  were 
held  and  speakers  were  secured  and  advised  what  to  say.  In 
cities  and  communities  where  contact  on  this  plane  had  been 
infrequent,  it  was  a  bit  difficult  to  approach  the  subject.  The 
press  of  Georgia  gave  much  space  to  the  discussion  of  the 
movement  and  what  ought  to  be  done  to  stop  it.  The  consensus 
of  opinion  of  the  white  papers  in  the  State  was  that  the  negro 
had  not  been  fairly  treated,  and  that  better  treatment  would 
be  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  checking  the  migration. 
Mob  violence,  it  was  pointed  out,  was  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  the  exodus.^ 

The   Tift  on    (Georgia)    Gazette  commenting   on   the   causes 
said: 

They  have  allowed  negroes  to  be  lynched,  five  at  a  time,  on  nothing 
stronger  than  suspicion ;  they  have  allowed  whole  sections  to  be  depopulated 
of   them    (notably   in   several   north   Georgia  counties)  ;   they  have   allowed 

1  Johnson,  Report  on   the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


80  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

them  to  be  whitecapped  and  to  be  whipped,  and  their  homes  burned,  with 
only  the  weakest  and  most  spasmodic  efforts  to  apprehend  or  punish  those 
guilty — when  any  efforts  were  made  at  all.  Loss  of  much  of  the  State's 
best  labor  is  one  of  the  prices  Georgia  is  paying  for  unchecked  mob  activity 
against  negroes  often  charged  only  with  ordinary  crimes.  Current  dis- 
patches from  Albany,  Georgia,  in  the  center  of  the  section  apparently  most 
affected,  and  where  efforts  are  being  made  to  stop  the  exodus  by  spreading 
correct  information  among  the  negroes,  say  that  the  heaviest  migration  of 
negroes  has  been  from  those  counties  in  which  there  have  been  the  worst 
outbreaks  against  negroes.  It  is  developed  by  investigation  that  where  there 
have  been  lynchings,  the  negroes  have  been  most  eager  to  believe  what  the 
emigration  agents  have  told  them  of  plots  for  the  removal  or  extermination 
of  the  race.  Comparatively  few  negroes  have  left  Dougherty  county,  which 
is  considered  significant  in  view  of  the  fact  that  this  is  one  of  the  counties 
in  southwest  Georgia  in  which  a  lynching  has  never  occurred. 

At  Thomasville,  Georgia,  a  mass  meeting  of  colored  citizens 
of  the  town  with  many  from  the  country  was  held  at  the  court 
house  and  addresses  were  made  by  several  prominent  white 
men,  as  well  as  by  several  colored  with  a  view  to  taking  some 
steps  in  regard  to  the  exodus  of  negroes  from  this  section  to 
the  North  and  West.  The  whole  sentiment  of  the  meeting  was 
very  amicable,  the  negroes  applauding  enthusiastically  the 
speeches  of  the  white  men  and  the  advice  given  by  them.  Reso- 
lutions were  drawn  up  by  a  committee  expressing  the  desire 
that  the  people  of  the  two  races  continue  to  live  together  as 
they  have  done  Li  the  past  and  that  steps  be  taken  to  adjust  any 
difference  between  them.^ 

After  a  conference  of  three  days  at  Waycross,  Georgia,  the 
negroes  came  to  a  decision  as  to  the  best  manner  in  which  to 
present  their  cause  to  the  white  people  with  a  view  to  securing 
their  cooperation  towards  the  improvement  of  conditions  in 
the  South  to  make  that  section  more  habitable.  "  There  are 
four  things  of  which  our  people  complain,"  they  said,  "  and 
this  conference  urges  our  white  friends  to  secure  for  us  these 
things  with  all  possible  speed.  First, .  more  protection  at  the 
hands  of  the  law.  We  ask  that  the  law  of  the  State,  made 
and  enforced  by  white  men,  should  be  made  to  apply  with  exact 
justice  to  both  races.  We  have  no  sympathy  for  criminals, 
but  we  ask  that  the  innocent  shall  be  protected  to  the  fullest 

^Atlanta  Constitution,  June  1,  1917. 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  81 

extent  of  the  law.  Second,  that  more  liberal  provisions  be  made 
for  the  education  of  our  people."  They  commended  Governor 
Dorsey  for  his  courageous  recommendation  in  his  inaugural 
address  that  an  agricultural  school  should  be  established  for 
negroes  in  some  center  in  southern  Georgia,  and  asked  their 
friends  everywhere  to  urge  the  members  of  the  legislature  from 
the  various  counties  to  put  Governor  Dorsey's  noble  sentiments 
into  law.  These  memorialists  felt,  too,  that  as  far  as  possible, 
wages  should  be  in  keeping  with  the  cost  of  living,  and  that  the 
white  people  generally  should  take  an  interest  in  the  general 
welfare  of  the  negroes.^ 

Tuskegee  Institute  was  also  quick  to  offer  a  remedy  for  the 
migration.  In  the  latter  part  of  September,  1916,  the  institu- 
tion made  a  strong  effort  to  persuade  the  negro  farmers  to 
remain  on  the  land  instead  of  going  to  the  cities.  Conferences 
were  held  with  the  bankers  of  Tuskegee  and  with  many  planters 
of  Macon  county  and  a  method  of  dealing  with  the  situation 
was  worked  out.  This  method  embraced  a  number  of  helpful 
suggestions  as  to  how  to  solve  their  many  perplexing  problems.^ 

1 1.  D.  Davis  served  as  president  of  the  conference  and  J.  B.  Ellis  as 
secretary.  Former  Superior  Court  Judge  T.  A.  Parker  and  V.  L.  Stanton, 
president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  were  among  the  prominent  white 
people  who  attended.  It  was  the  sense  of  the  conference  that  the  colored 
people  as  a  race  should  do  all  in  their  power  in  the  present  crisis  to  assist 
the  government  and,  above  all  else,  to  help  themselves  by  conserving  food. 
The  president  of  the  conference  said  the  colored  people  had  to  work  harder 
than  ever  before  with  so  many  problems  confronting  their  country.  "  It  is 
no  time  for  loafing,"  he  said,  "  we  must  work  early  and  late,  and  make  our 
work  count.' — Savannah  Morning  News,  July  18,  1917. 

2  The  suggestions  were :  to  encourage  the  farmer  to  plant  peanuts,  soy 
beans,  velvet  beans  and  cotton  as  cash  crops ;  to  create  a  cash  market  for 
such  crops  named  above  as  at  present  have  no  cash  market ;  to  encourage 
tenants  to  grow  fall  and  winter  gardens  and  to  plant  at  least  five  acres 
of  oats  to  the  plow,  seed  being  furnished  when  necessary;  to  stipulate,  in 
making  tenant  contracts  for  another  year,  that  cotton  stalks  be  plowed 
under  in  the  fall,  that  special  methods  of  combating  the  boll  weevil  be  used. 
To  advance  no  more  than  $25  to  the  plow,  and,  in  every  case  possible,  to 
refrain  from  any  advance ;  to  encourage  land  holders  to  rent  land  for  part 
of  the  crops  grown ;  to  urge  the  exercise  of  leniency  on  unpaid  notes  and 
mortgages  due  from  thrifty  and  industrious  farmers  so  as  to  give  them  a 
chance  to  recover  from  the  boll  weevil  conditions  and  storm  losses ;  to  create 
a  market  lasting  all  year  for  such  crops  as  hay,  cow-peas,  sweet  potatoes, 
poultry  and  live  stock;  to  urge  everybody  to  build  fences  and  make  pastures 
so  as  to  grow  more  live  stock  and  to  produce  more  nearly  all  of  the  supplies 
used  on  the  farm  ;  to  carry  on  a  food  campaign  in  the  country,  devoting 
the  first  Sunday  in  October  to  the  work  of  urging  the  people  to  plant  gardens 
and   sow   oats,   and   to   organize   a    Farmers'    Loan   Association    in    Macon 


82  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

At  the  twenty-sixth  annual  negro  conference  at  Tuskegee  In- 
stitute, the  institution  took  that  occasion  to  send  through  certain 
declarations  a  message  to  the  negroes  of  the  South.  These  decla- 
rations recited  the  distress  and  suffering  impelling  the  negroes 
to  migrate,  expressing  the  appreciation  of  the  necessity  to  do 
something  to  better  their  condition  by  embracing  the  new  oppor- 
tunities offered  them  in  the  North.  On  the  other  hand,  this  in- 
stitution felt  that  there  were  many  permanent  opportunities  for 
the  masses  of  the  colored  people  in  the  South,  which  is  now 
entering  upon  a  great  era  of  development.  Among  these  are 
the  millions  of  acres  of  land  yet  to  be  cultivated,  cities  to  be 
built,  railroads  to  be  extended  and  mines  to  be  worked.  These 
memorialists  considered  it  of  still  greater  importance  to  the 
negro  that  in  the  South  they  have  acquired  land,  buildings,  etc., 
valued  at  about  five  hundred  million  dollars.  The  negroes  were, 
therefore,  urged  to  stay  on  the  soil  which  they  owned. 

Addressing  a  word  to  the  white  people  of  the  South,  the  con- 
ference said  that  the  disposition  of  so  many  of  the  blacks  to 
leave  is  not  because  they  do  not  love  the  Southland  but  because 
they  believe  that  in  the  North  they  will  not  only  have  more 
opportunity  to  get  more  money  but  that  they  will  get  better 
treatment,  better  protection  under  the  law  and  better  school 
facilities  for  their  children.  The  conference  urged,  therefore, 
that  the  southern  white  people  avail  themselves  of  their  greatest 
opportunity  to  cooperate  with  the  blacks  in  the  various  com- 
munities and  have  a  thorough  understanding  as  to  working  for 
the  common  welfare  of  all.  The  delegates  believed  that  the 
time  had  come  for  the  best  element  of  the  whites  and  blacks 
to  unite  to  protect  the  interests  of  both  races  to  the  end  that 
more  effective  work  may  be  done  in  the  upbuilding  of  a  greater 
South.^ 

In  the  same  way  the  people  of  Mississippi  soon  discovered 
that  any  attempt  forcibly  to  hold  negroes  resulted  apparently 
in  an  increased  determination  to  leave.     Nor  was  it  sufficient 

county  to  work  with  the  Farmers'  Loan  Bank  being  established  by  the 
United  States  Government. 

^  Report    of    the    Twenty-sixth    Annual    Negro    Conference    at    Tuskegee 
Institute. 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  83 

to  warn  the  negroes  against  the  rigors  of  the  northern  winter 
and  the  death  rate  from  pneumonia  and  tuberculosis.  In  Green- 
wood, Mississippi,  the  difficulty  was  circumvented  by  using  the 
Red  Cross  and  the  food  conservation  meetings  as  a  forum  for 
the  discussion  of  the  movement.  This  was  the  first  time  that 
the  negroes  and  whites  of  Greenwood  had  met  to  discuss  matters 
of  mutual  welfare.  Bishop  W.  P.  Thirkield  of  New  Orleans 
addressed  a  body  of  negroes  and  whites  on  the  movement.  He 
suggested  that  whites  get  representative  colored  persons  together 
and  find  the  cause.  He  also  suggested  a  remedy  through  better 
treatment,  more  wages  and  more  cooperation  between  the  races. 
Negro  ministers  stated  that  they  were  offered  sums  of  money 
by  bankers,  planters  and  merchants  to  speak  in  discouragement 
of  the  movement.  Some  spoke,  and  others,  by  far  the  greater 
number,  seem  to  have  remained  neutral.^ 

It  was  found  necessary  to  increase  wages  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five  per  cent  and  in  some  cases  as  much  as  100  per  cent  to 
hold  labor.  The  reasons  for  migration  given  by  negroes  were 
sought.  In  almost  all  cases  the  chief  complaint  was  about  treat- 
ment. An  effort  was  made  to  meet  this  by  calling  conferences 
and  by  giving  publicity  to  the  launching  of  a  campaign  to  make 
unfair  settlements  and  other  such  grievances  unpopular.  Thus, 
in  Bolivar  county,  Mississippi,  a  meeting  was  called,  ostensibly 
to  look  after  the  economic  welfare  of  the  Delta  country,  but 
in  reality  to  develop  some  plan  for  holding  labor.  A  subcom- 
mittee of  seventeen  men  was  appointed  to  look  into  the  labor 
situation.  There  were  twelve  white  men  and  five  negroes.  The 
subcommittee  met  and  reported  to  the  body  that  the  present 
labor  shortage  was  due  to  the  migration,  and  that  the  migration 
was  due  to  a  feeling  of  insecurity  before  the  law,  the  unrestrained 
action  of  mobs,  unfair  methods  of  yearly  settlement  on  farms 
and  inadequate  school  facilities.  As  a  result  of  the  report,  it 
was  agreed  to  make  an  appropriation  of  $25,000  towards  an 
agricultural  high  school,  as  a  step  towards  showing  an  interest 
in  the  negroes  of  Bolivar  county  and  thus  give  them  reasons 
for  remaining.     A  campaign  was  started  to  make  unpopular 

^Johnson,  Report  on  th^e  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


84  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

the  practice  among  farmers  of  robbing  negroes  of  the  returns 
from  their  labor,  and  a  general  effort  was  made  by  a  few  of 
the  leading  men  behind  the  movement  to  create  "  a  better  feel- 
ing "  between  the  races/ 

Wide  publicity  was  given  to  the  experiment  in  plantation 
government,  and  the  policy  was  accepted  by  a  number  of  planters 
as  opportunistic  action.  Thus,  one  Mr.  Abbott  of  Natchez, 
Mississippi,  told  the  planters  of  his  section  that  good  treatment, 
adequate  and  sympathetic  oversight  are  the  important  factors 
in  any  effort  to  hold  labor.  He  made  a  trip  to  his  farm  every 
week,  endeavoring  to  educate  his  tenants  in  modes  of  right 
living.  Every  man  on  his  place  had  a  bank  account  and  was 
apparently  satisfied.  This  example  was  presented  with  the  state- 
ment that  where  these  methods  had  been  used,  few  had  left. 
One  planter  purchased  twenty-eight  Ford  automobiles  to  sell 
on  easy  terms  to  his  tenants  with  the  hope  of  contenting  them. 

The  newspapers  published  numerous  letters  from  southern 
negro  leaders  urging  negroes  to  consider  well  their  step,  assert- 
ing, that  the  South  is  the  best  place  for  them  and  that  the 
southern  white  man  knows  them  and  will  in  consequence  be 
more  lenient  with  their  shortcomings.  The  papers  further  urged 
an  increase  in  wages  and  better  treatment.  Wherever  possible, 
there  were  published  articles  which  pointed  to  the  material  pros- 
perity of  negroes  in  the  South.  For  example,  a  writer  of  Green- 
ville, said  of  negroes'  loyalty  in  1917: 

The  prosperity  as  well  as  the  patriotism  of  the  negro  farmer  has  been 
shown  in  the  purchase  of  Liberty  Bonds  in  the  Delta.  Many  colored  farm 
laborers  subscribed  for  bonds.  Every  family  on  the  place  of  Planter  C.  D. 
Walcott,  near  Hollandale,  took  a  bond,  while  one  negro,  Boley  Cox,  a 
renter,  bought  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $1,000  and  gave  his  check  for  the 
total  amount  out  of  the  savings  of  this  year  from  his  crop  and  still  has 
cotton  to  sell.  There  are  negro  families  on  Delta  plantations  making  more 
money  this  year  than  the  salary  of  the  governor  of  the  State. 

When  migrants  could  be  induced  to  talk  freely,  they  com- 
plained also  against  the  treatment  in  the  courts.  Some  of  the 
cities  consequently  are  known  to   have   suspended   their   raids 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  th-e  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


EFFORTS    TO    CHECK    THE    MOVEMENT  85 

and  arrests  on  petty  charges.  In  some  instances  the  attempts 
at  pacification  reached  almost  incredible  bounds.  For  example, 
a  negro  missed  connection  with  his  train  through  the  fault 
of  the  railroad.  His  white  friend  advised  him  to  bring  suit. 
This  he  did  and  urged  as  his  principal  grievance  that  he  was 
stranded  in  a  strange  town  and  was  forced  to  sleep  in  quarters 
wholly  at  the  mercy  of  bed  bugs.  It  is  said  that  he  was  awarded 
damages  to  the  extent  of  $800.  A  Jackson,  Mississippi,  daily 
paper  that  had  been  running  a  column  of  humorous  incidents 
about  negroes  taken  from  the  daily  court  sessions,  which  was 
very  distasteful  to  the  colored  people  of  the  city,  discontinued 
it.  Such  methods  as  these  have  been  the  only  ones  to  prove 
effective  in  bringing  about  an  appreciable  stem  in  the  tide. 
With  the  advent  of  the  United  States  Government  constructing 
cantonments  and  establishing  manufacturing  plants  in  the  South, 
the  millions  thus  diverted  to  that  section  have  caused  such  an 
increase  in  wages  that  the  movement  has  been  decidedly  checked. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Effects  of  the  Movement  on  the  South 

The  first  changes  wrought  by  this  migration  were  unusually 
startling.  Homes  found  themselves  without  servants,  factories 
could  not  operate  because  of  the  lack  of  labor,  farmers  were 
unable  to  secure  laborers  to  harvest  their  crops.  Streets  in  towns 
and  cities  once  crowded  assumed  the  aspect  of  deserted  thorough- 
fares, houses  in  congested  districts  became  ernpty,  churches, 
lodges  and  societies  suffered  such  a  large  loss  of  membership 
that  they  had  to  close  up  or  undergo  reorganization. 

Probably  the  most  striking  change  was  the  unusual  increase 
in  wages.  The  wages  for  common  labor  in  Thomasville,  Georgia, 
increased  almost  certainly  100  per  cent.  In  Valdosta  there  was 
a  general  increase  in  the  town  and  county  of  about  50  per  cent, 
in  Brunswick  and  Savannah  the  same  condition  obtained.  The 
common  laborer  who  had  formerly  received  80  cents  a  day 
earned  thereafter  $1.50  to  $1.75.  Farm  hands  working  for 
from  $10  to  $15  per  month  were  advanced  to  $20  or  $35  per 
month.  Brick  masons  who  had  received  50  cents  per  hour 
thereafter  earned  62/^  cents  and  70  cents  per  hour.  In  Savan- 
nah common  laborers  paid  as  high  as  $2  per  day  were  advanced 
to  $3.  At  the  sugar  refinery  the  rates  were  for  women,  15  to 
22  cents  per  hour,  men,  22  to  30  cents  per  hour.  In  the  more 
skilled  lines  of  work,  the  wages  were  for  carpenters,  $4  to  $G 
per  day,  painters,  $2.50  to  $4  per  day,  and  bricklayers  $-4  to 
$5  per  day. 

The  increase  in  the  Birmingham  district  may  be  studied 
as  a  type  of  the  changes  effected  in  the  industrial  centers  of 
the  South,  as  Birmingham  is  a  great  coal  mining  center  and, 
with  the  exception  of  Pittsburgh,  is  the  greatest  iron  ore  dis- 
trict in  the  United  States.  On  November  6,  1917,  the  average 
daily  wage  earnings  of  forty-five  men  was  $5.49.     On  Novem- 

86 


EFFECTS    OF    THE    MOVEMENT    ON    THE    SOUTH  87 

ber  10,  1917,  the  average  for  seventy-five  men  was  $5.30.  One 
man  was  earning  $10  a  day,  two  $9  to  $10  a  day,  five  $8  to  $9, 
six  $7  to  $8,  ten  $6  to  $7,  fourteen  $5  to  $6,  thirty-two  $4  to 
$5,  nine  $3  to  $4,  and  six  under  $3.  In  the  other  coal  and 
iron  ore  sections  the  earnings  had  been  similarly  increased.^ 

In  Mississippi,  largely  a  farming  section,  wages  did  not  in- 
crease to  the  extent  that  they  did  in  Alabama,  but  some  increase 
was  necessary  to  induce  the  negroes  to  remain  on  the  planta- 
tions and  towns  to  keep  the  industries  going.  In  Greenville 
wages  increased  at  first  about  ten  per  cent  but  this  did  not 
suffice  to  stop  the  migration,  for,  because  of  the  scarcity  of 
labor,  factories  and  stores  had  to  employ  white  porters,  drug- 
gists had  to  deliver  their  own  packages  and  firms  had  to  resort 
to  employing  negro  women.  On  the  farms  much  of  the  crop 
was  lost  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  labor.  In  Greenwood 
wages  of  common  laborers  increased  from  $1  and  $1.25  to  $1.75 
per  day.  Clarksdale  was  also  compelled  to  oflfer  laborers  more 
remuneration.  Vicksburg  found  it  necessary  to  increase  the 
wages  of  negroes  from  $1.25  to  $2  per  day.  There  were  laborers 
on  steamboats  who  received  $75  to  $100  per  month. 

At  Leland  500  to  1,000  men  received  $1.75  per  day.  The 
oil  mills  of  Indianola  raised  the  wages  of  the  negroes  from 
$1.50  to  $2  per  day.  At  Laurel  the  average  daily  wage  was 
raised  from  $1.35  to  $1.65,  the  maximum  wage  being  $2.  Wages 
increased  at  Meridian  from  90  cents  and  $1.25  to  $1.50  and 
$1.75  per  day.  The  wholesale  houses  increased  the  compensa- 
tion of  their  employes  from  $10  to  $12  per  week.  From  $1.10 
in  Hattiesburg  the  daily  wage  was  raised  to  $1.75  and  $2  per 
day.  Wages  in  Jackson  increased  from  $1  and  $1.25  to  $1.35 
and  $1.50  per  day.  In  Natchez  there  was  an  increase  of  25 
per  cent.  On  the  whole,  throughout  the  State  there  was  an 
increase  of  from  10  to  30  per  cent  and  in  some  instances  of 
as  much  as  100  per  cent.^ 

Throughout  the  South  there  was  not  only  a  change  in  policy 
as  to  the  method  of  stopping  the  migration  of  the  blacks  to 

1  Work,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Alabama. 

2  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


88  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

the  North,  but  a  change  in  the  economic  poHcy  of  the  South. 
Southern  business  men  and  planters  soon  found  out  that  it  was 
impossible  to  treat  the  negro  as  a  serf  and  began  to  deal  with 
him  as  an  actual  employe  entitled  to  his  share  of  the  returns 
from  his  labor.  It  was  evident  that  it  would  be  very  much 
better  to  have  the  negroes  as  coworkers  in  a  common  cause 
than  to  have  them  abandon  their  occupations  in  the  South,  leav- 
ing their  employers  no  opportunity  to  secure  to  themselves  ade- 
quate income  to  keep  them  above  want. 

A  more  difficult  change  of  attitude  was  that  of  the  labor 
unions.  They  had  for  years  been  antagonistic  to  the  negroes 
and  had  begun  to  drive  them  from  many  of  the  higher  pursuits 
of  labor  which  they  had  even  from  the  days  of  slavery  monopo- 
lized. The  skilled  negro  laborer  has  gradually  seen  his  chances 
grow  less  and  less  as  the  labor  organizations  have  invaded  the 
South.  In  the  end,  however,  the  trade  unions  have  been  com- 
pelled to  yield,  although  complete  economic  freedom  of  the  negro 
in  the  South  is  still  a  matter  of  prospect. 

There  was,  too,  a  decided  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  whole 
race  toward  the  blacks.  The  white  people  could  be  more  easily 
reached,  and  very  soon  there  was  brought  about  a  better  under- 
standing between  the  races.  Cities  gave  attention  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  negro  sections,  which 
had  so  long  been  neglected;  negroes  were  invited  to  take  part 
in  the  clean-up  week;  the  Women's  Health  League  called  special 
meetings  of  colored  women,  conferred  with  them  and  urged  them 
to  organize  community  clubs.  Committees  of  leading  negroes 
dared  to  take  up  with  their  employers  the  questions  of  better 
accommodations  and  better  treatment  of  negro  labor.  Members 
of  these  committees  went  before  chambers  of  commerce  to  set 
forth  their  claims.  Others  dared  boldly  to  explain  to  them  that 
the  negroes  were  leaving  the  South  because  they  had  not  been 
given  the  treatment  which  should  be  accorded  men. 

Instead  of  expressing  their  indignation  at  such  efforts  on 
the  part  of  the  negroes,  the  whites  listened  to  them  attentively. 
Accordingly,  joint  meetings  of  the  whites  and  blacks  were  held 
to  hear   frank  statements  of  the  case   from  speakers  of  both 


EFFECTS    OF    THE    MOVEMENT    ON    THE    SOUTH  89 

races.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  meetings  was  the 
one  held  in  Birmingham,  Alabama.  The  negroes  addressing 
the  audience  frankly  declared  that  it  was  impossible  to  bring 
back  from  the  North  the  migrants  who  were  making  good  there, 
but  that  the  immediate  problem  requiring  solution  was  how  to 
hold  in  the  South  those  who  had  not  gone.  These  negroes  made 
it  clear  that  it  was  impossible  for  negro  leaders  through  the 
pulpit  and  press  to  check  the  movement,  but  that  only  through 
a  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  whites  to  the  blacks  could  the 
latter  be  made  to  feel  that  the  Southland  is  safe  for  them. 

Here  we  see  the  coming  to  pass  of  a  thing  long  desired  by 
those  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  South  and  long  rejected 
by  those  who  have  always  prized  the  peculiar  interest  of  one 
race  more  highly  than  the  welfare  of  all.  White  men,  for  the 
first  time,  were  talking  on  the  streets  with  negroes  just  as  white 
men  talk  with  each  other.  The  merchants  gave  their  negro 
patrons  more  attention  and  consideration.  A  prominent  white 
man  said,  "  I  have  never  seen  such  changes  as  have  come  about 
within  the  last  four  months.  I  know  of  white  men  and  negroes 
who  have  not  dared  to  speak  to  one  another  on  the  streets  to 
converse  freely."  The  suspension  of  harsh  treatment  was  so 
marked  in  some  places  that  few  negroes  neglected  to  mention  it. 
In  Greenwood  and  Jackson,  Mississippi,  the  police  were  in- 
structed to  curtail  their  practices  of  beating  negroes.  Several 
court  cases  in  which  negroes  were  involved  terminated  favorably 
for  them.  There  followed  directly  after  the  exodus  an  attempt 
at  more  even  handed  justice,  or  at  least  some  conciliatory  meas- 
ures were  adopted.  The  authorities  at  Laurel,  Mississippi,  were 
cautioned  to  treat  negroes  better,  so  as  to  prevent  their  leaving. 
There  is  cited  the  case  of  a  negro  arrested  on  an  ambiguous 
charge.  He  was  assigned  to  the  county  chain  gang  and  put 
to  work  on  the  roads.  At  this  time  the  treatment  in  the  courts 
was  being  urged  by  negroes  as  a  reason  for  leaving.  This 
negro's  case  was  discussed.  He  was  sent  back  from  the  county 
roads  alone  for  a  shovel.  He  did  not  return;  and  his  return 
was  not  expected.^ 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  th-e  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


90  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

Conferences  of  negroes  and  whites  in  Mississippi  emphasized 
the  necessity  of  cooperation  between  the  races  for  their  common 
good.  The  whites  said,  to  quote  a  negro  laborer,  "  We  must 
just  get  together."  A  negro  said :  "  The  dominant  race  is  just 
a  bit  less  dominant  at  present."  "  We  are  getting  more  con- 
sideration and  appreciation,"  said  another.  From  another  quar- 
ter came  the  remark  that  "  instead  of  the  old  proverbial  accu- 
sation— shiftless  and  unreliable — negro  labor  is  being  heralded 
as  *  the  only  dependable  labor  extant,  etc'  "  ^  A  general  re- 
view of  the  results  made  it  clear  that  there  was  a  disposition 
on  the  part  of  the  white  population  to  give  some  measure  of 
those  benefits,  the  denial  of  which  was  alleged  as  the  cause 
of  the  exodus.  For  those  who  remained  conditions  were  much 
more  tolerable,  although  there  appeared  to  persist  a  feeling  of 
apprehension  that  these  concessions  would  be  retracted  as  soon 
as  normal  times  returned.  Some  were  of  the  opinion  that  the 
exodus  was  of  more  assistance  to  those  negroes  who  stayed  be- 
hind than  to  those  who  went  away. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  white  people  in  the  South  began 
to  direct  attention  to  serious  work  of  reconstruction  to  make 
that  section  inviting  to  the  negro.  Bolivar  county,  Mississippi, 
as  a  direct  result  of  the  recommendation  of  the  labor  committee, 
made  an  appropriation  of  $25,000  toward  an  agricultural  high 
school,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  State.  The  school  boards 
of  Coahoma  and  Adams  counties  have  appointed  Jeanes  Founda- 
tion Supervisors  and,  in  Coahoma  county,  promised  a  farm 
demonstration  agent.  They  also  made  repairs  on  the  school 
buildings  in  towns,  and  prominent  whites  have  expressed  a 
willingness  to  duplicate  every  dollar  negroes  raise  for  rural 
school  improvements.  A  large  planter  in  the  Big  Creek  neigh- 
borhood has  raised,  together  with  his  tenants,  $1,000  for  schools 
and  the  superintendent  of  schools  has  gone  over  the  county 
urging  planters  to  give  land  for  negro  schools.  Two  other  large 
planters,  whose  tenants  number  into  the  hundreds,  have  made 
repairs  on  the  schoolhouses  on  their  plantations.  The  Mississippi 
Council  of  Defense  passed  a  resolution  calling  upon  the  State 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  from  Mississippi. 


EFFECTS    OF    THE    MOVEMENT    ON    THE    SOUTH  91 

to  put  a  farm  demonstrator  and  home  economics  agent  to  work 
in  rural  communities  to  make  living  conditions  better  in  the 
effort  to  induce  the  people  to  stay. 

This  upheaval  in  the  South,  according  to  an  investigator,  will 
be  helpful  to  all. 

The  decrease  in  the  black  population  in  those  communities  where  the 
negroes  outnumber  the  whites  will  remove  the  fear  of  negro  domination. 
Many  of  the  expensive  precautions  which  the  southern  people  have  taken 
to  keep  the  negroes  down,  much  of  the  terrorism  incited  to  restrain  the 
blacks  from  self-assertion  will  no  longer  be  considered  necessary ;  for, 
having  the  excess  in  numbers  on  their  side,  the  whites  will  finally  rest 
assured  that  the  negroes  may  be  encouraged  without  any  apprehension  that 
they  may  develop  enough  power  to  subjugate  or  embarrass  their  former 
masters. 

The  negroes,  too,  are  very  much  in  demand  in  the  South  and  the  intelli- 
gent whites  will  gladly  give  them  larger  opportunities  to  attach  them  to 
that  section,  knowing  that  the  blacks,  once  conscious  of  their  power  to  move 
freely  throughout  the  country  wherever  they  may  improve  their  condition, 
will  never  endure  hardships  like  those  formerly  inflicted  upon  the  race. 
The  South  is  already  learning  that  the  negro  is  the  most  desirable  labor  for 
that  section,  that  the  persecution  of  negroes  not  only  drives  them  out  but 
makes  the  employment  of  labor  such  a  problem  that  the  South  will  not  be 
an  attractive  section  for  capital.  It  will,  therefore,  be  considered  the  duty 
of  business  men  to  secure  protection  to  the  negroes  lest  their  ill  treatment 
force  them  to  migrate  to  the  extent  of  bringing  about  a  stagnation  of 
business. 

The  exodus  has  driven  home  the  truth  that  the  prosperity  of  the  South 
is  at  the  mercy  of  the  negro.  Dependent  on  cheap  labor,  which  the  bull- 
dozing whites  will  not  readily  furnish,  the  wealthy  southerners  must  finally 
reach  the  position  of  regarding  themselves  and  the  negroes  as  having  a 
community  of  interests  which  each  must  promote.  "  Nature  itself  in  those 
States,"  Douglass  said,  "came  to  the  rescue  of  the  negro.  He  had  labor, 
the  South  wanted  it,  and  must  have  it  or  perish.  Since  he  was  free  he 
could  then  give  it,  or  withhold  it;  use  it  where  he  was,  or  take  it  elsewhere, 
as  he  pleased.  His  labor  made  him  a  slave  and  his  labor  could,  if  he  would, 
make  him  free,  comfortable  and  independent.  It  is  more  to  him  than  either 
fire,  sword,  ballot  boxes  or  bayonets.  It  touches  the  heart  of  the  South 
through  its  pocket."  Knowing  that  the  negro  has  this  silent  weapon  to  be 
used  against  his  employer  or  the  community,  the  South  is  already  giving 
the  race  better  educational  facilities,  better  railway  accommodations,  and 
will  eventually,  if  the  advocacy  of  certain  southern  newspapers  be  heeded, 
grant  them  political  privileges.  Wages  in  the  South,  therefore,  have  risen 
even  in  the  extreme  southwestern  States,  where  there  is  an  opportunity  to 
import  jMexican  labor.  Reduced  to  this  extremity,  the  southern  aristocrats 
have  begun  to  lose  some  of  their  race  prejudice,  which  has  not  hitherto 
yielded  to  reason  or  philanthropy. 


92  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

Southern  men  are  telling  their  neighbors  that  their  section  must  abandon 
the  policy  of  treating  the  negroes  as  a  problem  and  construct  a  program 
for  recognition  rather  than  for  repression.  Meetings  are,  therefore,  being 
held  to  find  out  what  the  negroes  want  and  what  may  be  done  to  keep  them 
contented.  They  are  told  that  the  negro  must  be  elevated,  not  exploited ; 
that  to  make  the  South  what  it  must  needs  be,  the  cooperation  of  all  is 
needed  to  train  and  equip  the  men  of  all  races  for  efificiency.  The  aim  of 
all  then  must  be  to  reform  or  get  rid  of  the  unfair  proprietors  who  do  not 
give  their  tenants  a  fair  division  of  the  returns  from  their  labor.  To 
this  end  the  best  whites  and  blacks  are  urged  to  come  together  to  find  a 
working  basis  for  a  systematic  efifort  in  the  interest  of  all.^ 

Another  evidence  of  the  beneficent  effects  of  the  decrease  in 
the  population  in  the  Black  Belt  of  the  South  is  the  interest  now 
almost  generally  manifested  in  the  improvement  of  the  negro 
quarters  in  southern  cities.  For  a  number  of  years  science  has 
made  an  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  thoroughly  clean  city,  knowing 
that  since  the  germ  does  not  draw  the  color  line,  a  city  can  not 
be  kept  clean  as  long  as  a  substantial  portion  of  its  citizens  are 
crowded  into  one  of  its  oldest  and  least  desirable  parts,  neglected 
by  the  city  and  avoided  by  the  whites.  Doing  now  what  science 
has  hitherto  failed  to  accomplish,  this  peculiar  economic  need 
of  the  negro  in  the  South  has  brought  about  unusual  changes 
in  the  appearance  of  southern  cities.  Darkened  portions  of  ur- 
ban districts  have  been  lighted;  streets  in  need  of  improvement 
have  been  paved;  the  water,  light  and  gas  systems  have  been 
extended  to  negro  quarters  and  play  grounds  and  parks  have 
been  provided  for  their  amusement. 

No  less  important  has  been  the  effect  of  the  migration  on 
the  southern  land  tenure  and  the  credit  system,  the  very  heart 
of  the  trouble  in  that  section.  For  generations  the  negroes  have 
borne  it  grievously  that  it  has  been  difficult  to  obtain  land  for 
cultivation  other  than  by  paying  exorbitant  rents  or  giving  their 
landlords  an  unusually  large  share  of  the  crops.  They  have 
been  further  handicapped  by  the  necessity  of  depending  on  such 
landlords  to  supply  them  with  food  and  clothing  at  such  ex- 
orbitant prices  that  their  portion  of  the  return  from  their  labor 
has  been  usually  exhausted  before  harvesting  the  crops.  Cheated 
thus  in  the  making  of  their  contracts  and  in  purchasing  necessi- 

1  Woodson,  A  Century  of  Negro  Migration,  pp.  183-186. 


EFFECTS    OF    THE    MOVEMENT    ON    THE   SOUTH  93 

ties,  they  have  been  but  the  prey  of  sharks  and  harpies  bent 
upon  keeping  them  in  a  state  scarcely  better  than  that  of  slavery. 
Southerners  of  foresight  have,  therefore,  severely  'criticized 
this  custom  and,  in  a  measure,  have  contributed  to  its  decline. 
The  press  and  the  pulpit  of  the  South  are  now  urging  the  planters 
to  abolish  this  system  that  the  negroes  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of 
their  own  labor.  It  is  largely  because  of  these  urgent  appeals 
in  behalf  of  fair  play,  during  the  economic  upheaval,  that  this 
legalized  robbery  is  losing  its  hold  in  the  South. 

Recently  welfare  work  among  negroes  has  become  a  matter 
of  much  concern  to  the  industries  of  the  South  in  view  of  the 
exceptional  efforts  made  along  this  line  in  the  North.  At  the 
very  beginning  of  the  migration  the  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes  pointed  out  that  firms  wishing  to 
retain  negro  laborers  and  to  have  them  become  efficient  must 
give  special  attention  to  welfare  work.^  A  considerable  number 
of  firms  employing  negro  laborers  in  the  North  have  used  the 
services  of  negro  welfare  workers.  Their  duties  have  been 
to  work  with  the  men,  study  and  interpret  their  wants  and  stand 
as  a  medium  between  the  employer  and  his  negro  workmen. 
It  has,  therefore,  come  to  be  recognized  in  certain  industrial  cen- 
ters in  the  South  that  money  expended  for  this  purpose  is  a 
good  investment.  Firms  employing  negro  laborers  in  any  con- 
siderable numbers  have  found  out  that  they  must  be  dealt  with 
on  the  same  general  basis  as  white  laborers.  Among  the  in- 
dustries in  the  South  now  looking  out  for  their  negro  laborers 
in  this  respect  are  the  Newport  News  Shipbuilding  and  Dry 
Dock  Company,  the  American  Cast  Iron  Pipe  Company  of  Bir- 
mingham and  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company. 

These  efforts  take  the  form  which  usually  characterize  the 
operations  of  social  workers.  The  laborers  are  cared  for  through 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  National  Urban  League 

1  At  the  National  Conference,  "  The  Problems  of  the  Employment  Man- 
ager in  Industry  "  held  at  Rochester,  New  York,  in  May,  1918,  considerable 
time  was  given  to  this  question.  In  discussing  psychology  in  the  employ- 
ment of  negro  workingmen  Mr.  E.  K.  Jones,  Director  of  the  Urban  League, 
pointed  out  that  negro  laborers  must  be  given  not  only  good  housing  and 
recreation  facilities  but  also  the  opportunity  for  advancement.  "  Give  them," 
said  he,  "  a  chance  to  become  foremen  and  to  engage  in  all  kinds  of  skill 
and  delicate  labor.     This  will  inspire  them  and  place  new  life  in  them." 


94  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

and  social  settlement  establishments.  The  attention  of  the  wel- 
fare workers  is  directed  to  the  improvement  of  living  conditions 
through  proper  sanitation  and  medical  attention.  They  are  sup- 
plied with  churches,  school  buildings  and  bath  houses,  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  community  singing,  dramatic  clubs  and  public 
games,  and  receive  instruction  in  gardening,  sewing  and  cook- 
ing.    Better  educational  facilities  are  generally  provided. 

On  the  whole  the  South  will  profit  by  this  migration.  Such 
an  upheaval  was  necessary  to  set  up  a  reaction  in  the  southern 
mind  to  enable  its  leaders  of  thought  to  look  beyond  themselves 
into  the  needs  of  the  man  far  down.  There  is  in  progress, 
therefore,  a  reshaping  of  public  opinion,  in  fact  a  peaceful  revo- 
lution in  a  land  cursed  by  slavery  and  handicapped  by  aristoc- 
racy. The  tendency  to  maltreat  the  negroes  without  cause,  the 
custom  of  arresting  them  for  petty  offenses  and  the  institution 
of  lynching  have  all  been  somewhat  checked  by  this  change 
in  the  attitude  of  the  southern  white  man  towards  the  negro. 
The  check  in  the  movement  of  the  negroes  to  other  parts  may 
to  some  extent  interfere  with  this  development  of  the  new 
public  opinion  in  the  South,  but  this  movement  has  been  so 
far  reaching  in  its  effect  as  to  compel  the  thinking  class  of  the 
South  to  construct  and  carry  out  a  policy  of  fair  play  to  provide 
against  that  day  when  that  section  may  find  itself  again  at  the 
mercy  of  the  laboring  class  of  the  negroes. 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Situation  in  St.  Louis 

It  will  be  both  interesting  and  profitable  to  follow  these 
migrants  into  their  new  homes  in  the  North.  Among  the  most 
interesting  of  these  communities  is  the  black  colony  in  St.  Louis. 
St.  Louis  is  one  of  the  first  cities  of  the  border  States,  a  city 
first  in  the  memory  of  the  unsettled  migrant  when  the  North 
was  mentioned.  During  a  long  period  thousands  had  gone 
there,  settled  down  for  a  while  and  moved  on,  largely  to  Illinois, 
a  sort  of  promised  land.  Conservative  estimates  place  the 
number  of  negro  migrants  who  have  remained  there  at  10,000. 
The  number  of  migrants  passing  through  this  city,  its  reception 
of  them,  the  living  conditions  provided  and  the  community  in- 
terest displayed  in  grappling  with  the  problem  are  facts  extremely 
necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  readjustment  of  the 
migrants  in  the  North. 

The  composition  of  the  city's  population  is  significant.  It 
has  a  large  foreign  element.  Of  the  foreign  population  Ger- 
mans predominate,  probably  because  of  the  brewery  industry 
of  the  American  white  population.  The  southern  whites  are 
of  longest  residence  and  dominate  the  sentiment.  The  large 
industrial  growth  of  the  town,  however,  has  brought  great 
numbers  of  northern  whites.  The  result  is  a  sort  of  mixture 
of  traditions.  The  apparent  results  of  this  mixture  may  be 
observed  in  these  inconsistencies;  separate  schools,  but  common 
transportation  facilities;  separate  playgrounds,  but  common  bath 
houses;  separate  theaters  and  restaurants  with  the  color  line 
drawn  as  strictly  as  in  the  South. ^  There  has  been  considerable 
migration  of  whites  to  this  city  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi. 

1  A  segregation  law  was  passed  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Negroes 
secured  an  injunction  and  the  matter  rested  there  until  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  declared  the  segregation  laws  invalid. 

95 


96  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

As  there  are  separate  schools  in  St.  Louis,  the  statistics  of 
the  St.  Louis  system  may  serve  as  an  index  to  the  sources  and 
the  increase  of  the  negro  population.  The  school  population  was 
known  to  increase  approximately  500  between  1916  and  1917.^ 
The  school  registration  shows  communities  in  which  have  settled 
numbers  of  families  from  the  same  State  and  even  the  same 
town.  For  example,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Dessalines  School 
in  the  1700  block  on  12th  Street,  North,  Mississippi  colonists 
are  in  preponderant  majority.  The  towns  represented  here  are 
located  in  the  northeastern  part  of  that  State.  In  the  vicinity 
of  the  L'Overture  School  are  distinct  colonies  from  west  Ten- 
nessee and  Alabama.  On  Lawton  Avenue,  another  popular 
street,  Mississippians  also  are  in  majority.  What  makes  migra- 
tion to  St.  Louis  from  these  States  easy  is  probably  its  convenient 
location  and  direct  railway  communication  with  them.  There 
has  been  no  influx  from  Texas  and  Florida. 

How  St.  Louis  secured  her  migrants  makes  an  interesting 
story.  The  difficulty  of  apprehending  labor  agents  can  be  ap- 
preciated when  it  is  recalled  that  the  most  zealous  efforts  of 
authority  in  the  majority  of  cases  failed  to  find  more  than  a 
trace  of  where  they  had  been  operating.  It  was  asserted  by 
many  of  the  migrants  to  this  city,  however,  that  they  had 
been  approached  at  some  time  by  agents.  Large  industrial  plants 
located  in  the  satellite  city  of  St.  Louis  sent  men  to  Cairo,  a 
junction  point,  to  meet  incoming  trains  and  make  offers.  There 
developed  a  competition  for  men.  They  were  first  induced  to 
accept  jobs  in  smaller  towns,  but  lack  of  recreational  facilities 
and  amusements  and  the  monotony  of  life  attracted  them  to 
the  bright  lights  of  St.  Louis.  The  large  alien  population  of 
this  city  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  made  some  employers 
anxious  about  the  safety  of  their  plants.  The  brick  yards  had 
been  employing  foreigners  exclusively.  When  war  began  so 
many  left  that  it  was  felt  that  their  business  was  in  danger. 
They  advertised  for  3,000  negroes,  promising  them  $2.35  per 
day.  The  railroad  construction  companies  sent  out  men  to 
attract  negroes  to  the  city.     They  assert,  however,  that  their 

1  St.  Louis  School  Reports,  1916  and  1917. 


THE    SITUATION    IN    ST.    LOUIS  97 

agents  solicited  men  only  after  they  had  started  for  the  North/ 
The  industries  of  St.  Louis  had  much  to  do  with  the  migra- 
tion. In  this  city  there  are  more  than  twenty  breweries.  None 
of  these  employ  negroes.  St.  Louis  also  has  a  large  shoe  in- 
dustry. In  this  line  no  negroes  are  employed.  A  short  while 
ago  a  large  steel  plant  employing  foreigners  in  large  numbers 
had  a  strike.  The  strike  was  settled  but  the  management  took 
precautions  against  its  repetition.  For  each  white  person  em- 
ployed a  negro  was  placed  on  a  corresponding  job.  This  parallel 
extended  from  unskilled  work  to  the  highest  skilled  pursuits. 
The  assumption  was  that  a  strike,  should  it  recur,'  could  not 
cripple  their  industry  entirely.  About  80  per  cent  of  the  em- 
ployes of  the  brick  yards,  50  per  cent  of  the  employes  of  the 
packing  houses,  50  per  cent  of  the  employes  of  the  American 
Car  and  Foundry  Company  are  negroes.  The  terra  cotta  works, 
electrical  plants,  united  railways  and  a  number  of  other  foundries 
employ  negroes  in  large  numbers.^ 

The  range  of  wages  for  unskilled  work  is  $2.25  to  $3.35 
per  day,  with  an  average  wage  of  about  $2.75.  For  some  skilled 
work  negroes  receive  from  35  cents  to  50  cents  an  hour.  Wages 
differ  even  between  St.  Louis  and  East  St.  Louis,  because  of 
a  difference  in  the  types  of  industries  in  the  two  cities.  Domes- 
tic service  has  been  literally  drained,  and  wages  here  have  been 
forced  upwards  to  approximate  in  some  measure  the  increase 
in  other  lines. 

The  housing  facilities  for  negroes,  though  not  the  best,  are 
superior  to  such  accommodations  in  most  southern  cities.  There 
are  about  six  communities  in  which  the  negroes  are  in  the 
majority.  Houses  here  are  as  a  rule  old,  having  been  occupied 
by  whites  before  they  were  turned  over  to  negroes.  Before 
the  migration  to  the  city,  property  owners  reported  that  they 
could  not  keep  their  houses  rented  half  of  the  year.  According 
to  the  statements  of  real  estate  men,  entire  blocks  stood  vacant, 
and  many  vacant  houses,  after  windows  had  been  broken  and 
plumbing  stolen,  were  wrecked  to  avoid  paying  taxes  on  them. 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  St.  Louis. 

2  Ibid. 


98  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

Up  to  the  period  of  the  riot  in  East  St.  Louis,  houses  were 
easily  available.  The  only  congestion  experienced  at  all  fol- 
lowed the  overnight  increase  of  7,000  negroes  from  East  St. 
Louis,  after  the  riot.  Rents  then  jumped  25  per  cent,  but  nor- 
mal conditions  soon  prevailed.  Sanitation  is  poor,  but  the 
women  coming  from  the  South,  in  the  opinion  of  a  reputable 
physician  of  the  city,  are  good  housewives.  New  blacks  have 
been  added  to  all  of  the  negro  residential  blocks.  In  the  ten- 
ement district  there  have  been  no  changes.  The  select  negro 
residential  section  is  the  abandoned  residential  district  of  the 
whites.  Few  new  houses  have  been  built.  An  increase  of 
rent  from  $5  to  $10  per  month  is  usually  the  sequel  of  the 
turning  over  of  a  house  to  negroes. 

Community  interest  in  the  situation  was  at  first  dormant  but 
not  entirely  lacking.  The  migration  was  well  under  way  be- 
fore there  was  any  organization  to  make  an  adjustment  in 
this  unusual  situation.  Interested  individuals  made  sporadic 
efforts  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  here  and  there,  but  the  situa- 
tion was  not  really  appreciated  until  the  outbreak  in  East  St. 
Louis.  There  is  an  active  branch  of  the  National  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People,  and  just  recently  there 
has  been  established  a  branch  of  the  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes  to  deal  with  the  peculiarly  local 
problems.^ 

East  St.  Louis,  another  attractive  center  for  the  migrants, 
is  unique  among  northern  industrial  cities.  It  is  an  industrial 
offshoot  of  St.  Louis,  which  has  outstripped  its  parent  in  ex- 
pansion. Its  geographical  advantage  has  made  it  a  formidable 
rival  even  with  its  less  developed  civic  institutions.  Perched 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River,  with  twenty-seven  rail- 
roads radiating  from  it,  within  easy  reach  of  the  coal  mines, 
there  has  been  made  possible  a  rapid  and  uneven  growth.  It 
has  doubled  its  population  for  three  successive  decades.  Re- 
volving around  this  overgrown  center  are  a  number  of  small 
towns:  Brooklyn,  Lovejoy,  Belleville,  Venice,  Granite  City  and 
Madison.     Its  plant  owners  live  in  St.  Louis  and  other  cities, 

1  Reports  of  the  National  Urban  League,  1916,  1917. 


THE    SITUATION    IN    ST.    LOUIS  99 

and  consequently  have  little  civic  interest  in  East  St.  Louis. 
Land  is  cheaper,  taxes  are  low.  In  fact,  some  of  the  largest 
concerns  have  been  accused  of  evading  them  entirely.  It  has 
been  artificially  fed  and,  in  process  of  growth,  there  have  been 
irregularities  in  the  structure  of  the  community  which  eventu- 
ally culminated  in  the  greatest  disgrace  of  the  North,  the  mas- 
sacre of  about  one  hundred  negroes. 

Fifty  years  ago  before  the  river  dividing  St.  Louis  from 
East  St.  Louis  was  bridged,  men  rowed  over  from  St.  Louis 
for  their  cock  fights,  dog  fights  and  prize  fights.  Escaped 
prisoners  found  a  haven  there.  The  town  was  called  "  The 
Bloody  Isle."  The  older  population  is  made  up  of  whites  from 
West  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Kentucky  and  Georgia.  The  men 
who  have  risen  to  political  prominence  in  the  city  are  for  the 
most  part  saloon  keepers.  As  many  as  100  saloons  flourished 
in  the  town  before  the  riot.  The  city  government  has  always 
been  bad.  The  attitude  of  the  citizenry  appeared  to  be  that 
of  passive  acceptance  of  conditions  which  must  not  be  interfered 
with.  As  an  example  of  the  state  of  mind,  much  surprise  was 
manifested  when  an  investigation  of  the  rioting  was  begun. 
Criminals  have  been  known  to  buy  immunity.  The  mayor  was 
assassinated  some  time  ago  and  little  or  no  effort  was  made  to 
punish  his  murderers. 

Long  before  an  influx  was  felt,  it  had  been  foreseen  and 
mentioned  by  several  men,  most  notably,  Mr.  Charles  Nagel, 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  under  President  Taft.  The 
East  St.  Louis  plants  had  been  going  to  Ellis  Island  for  laborers. 
When  this  supply  was  checked,  steps  were  taken  to  secure 
negroes.  Agents  were  sent  to  Cairo  to  get  men  en  route  further 
North.  One  advertisement  which  appeared  in  a  Texas  paper 
promised  negroes  $3.05  a  day  and  houses.  It  is  estimated  that 
as  a  result  of  this  beckoning  the  increase  in  population  due  to 
the  migration  was  5,000.  A  number  of  other  negro  migrants, 
however,  work  in  East  St.  Louis  and  live  in  St.  Louis,  Lovejoy 
and  Brooklyn,  a  negro  town.  The  school  registration  of  the 
city  showed  that  the  largest  numbers  of  these  blacks  came  from 
Mississippi  and  West  Tennessee.    Despite  the  advertisement  for 


100  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

men  in  Texas  newspapers,  few  came  to  this  city  from  that 
State/ 

The.  industries  requiring  the  labor  of  these  negroes  were 
numerous.  The  packing  plants  of  Swift,  Armour,  Nelson  and 
Morris  employ  large  numbers  of  negroes.  In  some  of  the  un- 
skilled departments  fifty  per  cent  of  the  employes  are  black. 
The  Aluminum  Ore  Works  employs  about  600  blacks  and  1,000 
whites.  This  is  the  plant  in  which  occurred  the  strike  which 
in  a  measure  precipitated  the  riot.  The  Missouri  Malleable 
Iron  Works  makes  it  a  policy  to  keep  three  classes  of  men  at 
work  and  as  nearly  equal  numerically  as  possible.  The  usual 
division  is  one-third  foreign  whites,  one-third  American  whites 
and  one-third  blacks.  The  theory  is  that  these  three  elements 
will  not  unite  to  strike.  Negroes  are  also  employed  in  the 
glass  works,  cotton  presses  and  transfer  yards.  Their  wages 
for  unskilled  work  ranges  from  $2.75  to  $3.75  generally  for 
eight  hours  a  day.  Semiskilled  work  pays  from  35  cents  to 
50  cents  an  hour. 

The  housing  of  the  negro  migrants  was  one  of  the  most 
perplexing  problems  in  East  St.  Louis.  The  type  of  houses 
available  for  negroes,  before  being  burned  during  the  riot,  were 
small  dilapidated  cottages.  Congestion,  of  course,  was  a  prob- 
lem which  accompanied  the  influx  of  negroes.  The  incoming 
population,  consisting  largely  of  lodgers,  was  a  misfit  in  the 
small  cottages  designed  for  families,  and  they  were  generally 
neglected  by  the  tenant  and  by  the  local  authorities.  The  seg- 
regated vice  district  was  located  in  the  negro  locality.  The 
crowding  which  followed  the  influx  forced  some  few  negroes 
into  the  white  localities.  Against  this  invasion  there  was  strong 
opposition  which  culminated  in  trouble.^ 

The  roots  of  the  fateful  horror  that  made  East  St.  Louis 
notorious,  however,  are  to  be  found  largely  in  a  no  less  notorious 
civic  structure.  Politics  of  a  shady  nature  was  the  handmaiden 
of  the  local  administration.  The  human  fabric  of  the  town 
was  made  up  of  sad  types  of  rough,  questionable  characters, 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  M^igration  to  St.  Louis. 

2  See  Congressional  Report  on' the  Massacre  of  East  St.  Louis. 


THE    SITUATION    IN    ST.    LOUIS  101 

drawn  to  the  town  by  its  industries  and  the  money  that  flowed 
from  them.  There  was  a  large  criminal  element.  These  lived 
in  a  little  corner  of  the  town,  w^here  was  located  also  the  segre- 
gated vice  district,  Negroes  were  interested  in  politics.  In  fact, 
they  were  a  considerable  factor  and  succeeded  in  placing  in 
office  several  black  men  of  their  choice. 

Trouble  started  at  the  Aluminum  Ore  Works  which  employed 
a  large  number  of  whites  and  blacks.  In  February  of  1917  the 
men  struck  while  working  on  government  contracts.  Immedi- 
ately, it  is  claimed,  negroes  were  sought  for  in  other  States 
to  take  their  places.  An  adjustment  was  made,  but  it  lasted 
only  a  short  while.  Then  followed  a  second  strike  at  which 
the  employers  balked.  In  this  they  felt  reasonably  secure  for 
negroes  were  then  pouring  into  the  city  from  the  South  during 
the  spring  exodus.  There  followed  numerous  evidences  of 
brooding  conflict  such  as  insults  on  the  street  cars,  comments 
and  excitement  over  the  daily  arrival  of  large  numbers  from 
the  South.  On  one  day  three  hundred  are  said  to  have  arrived. 
Standing  on  the  streets,  waiting  for  cars,  lost  in  wandering 
about  the  streets  searching  for  homes,  the  negroes  presented  a 
helpless  group.  The  search  for  homes  carried  them  into  the 
most  undesirable  sections.  Here  the  scraggy  edges  of  society 
met.  The  traditional  attitude  of  unionists  toward  negroes  be- 
gan to  assert  itself.  Fear  that  such  large  numbers  would  weaken 
present  and  subsequent  demands  aroused  considerable  opposition 
to  their  presence.  Meetings  were  held,  exciting  speeches  were 
made  and  street  fights  became  common.  The  East  St.  Louis 
Journal  is  said  to  have  printed  a  series  of  articles  under  the 
caption,  "  Make  East  St.  Louis  a  Lily  White  Town."  It  was 
a  simple  matter  of  touching  off  the  smoldering  tinder.  In  the 
riot  that  followed  over  a  hundred  negroes  were  killed.  These, 
for  the  most  part  lived  away  from  the  places  of  the  most  vio- 
lent disturbances,  and  were  returning  home,  unconscious  of  the 
fate  that  awaited  them.  The  riot  has  recently  been  subject  to 
a  congressional  investigation,  but  few  convictions  resulted  and 
those  whites  convicted  escaped  serious  punishment.^ 

1  See  Congressional  Report  on  the  Massacre  of  East  St.  Louis. 


CHAPTER  X 

Chicago  and  Its  Environs 

Chicago,  the  metropolis  of  the  West,  remembered!  in  the 
South  since  the  World's  Fair  as  a  far-away  city  of  hope  from 
which  come  all  great  things;  unceasingly  advertised  through  its 
tremendous  mail  order  and  clothing  houses,  schools  and  in- 
dustries until  it  became  a  synonym  for  the  "  North,"  was  the 
mouth  of  the  stream  of  negroes  from  the  South,  It  attracted 
all  types  of  men,  brought  them  in,  encouraged  them  and  cared 
for  them  because  it  needed  them.  It  is  estimated  that  within 
the  period  of  eighteen  months  beginning  January,  1916,  more 
than  fifty  thousand  negroes  entered  the  city.  This  estimate 
was  based  on  averages  taken  from  actual  count  of  daily  arrivals. 

There  were  at  work  in  this  city  a  number  of  agencies  which 
served  to  stimulate  the  movement.  The  stock  yards  were  sorely 
in  need  of  men.  It  was  reported  that  they  had  emissaries  in 
the  South.  Whether  it  is  true  or  not,  it  is  a  fact  that  it  was 
most  widely  advertised  throughout  the  States  of  Mississippi 
and  Louisiana  that  employment  could  easily  be  secured  in  the 
Chicago  stock  yards  district.  The  report  was  circulated  that 
fifty  thousand  men  were  needed,  and  the  packers  were  pro- 
viding houses  for  migrants  and  caring  for  them  until  they 
had  established  themselves.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
brought  hundreds  on  free  transportation  with  the  understand- 
ing that  the  men  would  enter  the  employ  of  the  company.  The 
radical  negro  newspapers  published  here  urged  negroes  to  leave 
the  South  and  promised  employment  and  protection.  It  is  in- 
deed little  wonder  that  Chicago  received  so  great  a  number. 

The  most  favorable  aspect  of  their  condition  in  their  new 
home  is  their  opportunity  to  earn  money.  Coming  from  the 
South,  where  they  were  accustomed  to  work  for  a  few  cents 
a  day  or  a  few  dollars  a  week,  to  an  industrial  center  where  they 

102 


CHICAGO    AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  103 

can  now  earn  as  much  in  an  hour  or  a  day,  they  have  the  feel- 
ing that  this  city  is  really  the  land  overflowing  with  milk  and 
honey.  In  the  occupations  in  which  they  are  now  employed, 
many  of  them  are  engaged  at  skilled  labor,  receiving  the  same 
and,  in  some  cases,  greater  compensation  than  was  paid  white 
men  in  such  positions  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  Talk- 
ing with  a  number  of  them  the  investigator  obtained  such  in- 
formation as,  that  men  were  working  at  the  Wilson  Packing 
House  and  receiving  $3  a  day;  at  the  Marks  Manufacturing 
Company  for  $3.75;  as  lumber  stackers  at  $4  a  day,  at  one 
of  the  rolling  mills  for  $25  a  week,  and  on  the  railroads  at 
$125  a  month.  The  large  majority  of  these  migrants  are 
engaged  in  the  packing  houses  of  Chicago  where  they  are  em- 
ployed to  do  all  sorts  of  skilled  and  unskilled  labor  with  the 
corresponding  compensation.^ 

It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  needs  of  the  migrants  could 

not  all  be  supplied  by  money.     Something  had  to  be  done  for 

their  social  welfare.     Various  agencies  assisted  in  caring  for 

the  needs  of  the  25,000   or  more  negro  migrants  who,   it  is 

estimated,  have  come  to  Chicago  within  three  years.    The  Chicago 

Renting  Agents'  Association  appointed  a  special  committee  to 

study  the  problems  of  housing  them  and  to  confer  with  leaders 

in   civic   organization   and   with   representative   negroes.      The 

Cook  County  Association  considered  the  question  of  appointing 

some  one  to  do   Sunday   School  work  exclusively  among  the 

newcomers.     The  Housing  Committee  of  the  Chicago  Women's 

Club  arranged   for  an  intensive  survey  of  housing  conditions. 

The  negroes  themselves  organized  to  help  the  recently  arrived 

members  of  the  race.     Negro  ministers,  lawyers,  physicians  and 

social    workers   cooperated    in    handling    the    problem    through 

churches,  Sunday  Schools  and  in  other  ways.^ 

The  negroes  residing  in  Chicago,  who  came  from  particular 
States  in  the  South  organized  clubs  to  look  after  the  migrants 
from  their  own  States.  The  result  was  that  an  Alabama  Club, 
a  Georgia  Club,  Mississippi  Club,  Tennessee  Club  and  so  on 

^  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 
2  Ibid. 


104  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

were  formed.  Committees  from  these  clubs  met  the  train  and 
helped  the  newcomers  to  find  homes  and  work.  The  chief 
agency  in  handling  the  migrant  situation  in  Chicago  was  the 
local  branch  of  the  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions 
among  Negroes.  The  work  which  the  league  did  for  the  mi- 
grants as  set  forth  in  the  report  of  1917  was  of  three  kinds : 
employment,  housing  and  adjustment  or  assimilation.  The  pol- 
icy of  the  Urban  League  with  regard  to  employment  was  to 
find  and,  where  possible,  to  open  new  occupations  hitherto  de- 
nied negroes.  The  housing  problem  was  urgent.  The  most  that 
the  league  was  able  to  do  thus  far  was  to  find  lodging,  to 
assist  in  finding  houses.  Lodging  accommodations  for  more 
than  400  individuals  were  personally  inspected  by  several  women 
volunteers.  It  is  impossible  to  do  much  else  short  of  the  con- 
struction of  apartments   for  families  and  for  single  men. 

The  league's  first  efforts  to  assimilate  the  new  people  started 
with  their  entrance  to  the  city.  To  see  that  they  received  proper 
directions  upon  reaching  the  railroad  station  was  an  important 
task.  It  was  able  to  secure  the  services  of  a  volunteer  travelers' 
aid  society.  This  agent  met  trains  and  directed  migrants  to 
destinations  when  they  had  addresses  of  relatives  and  friends. 
In  the  absence  of  such  they  were  sent  to  proper  homes  for  lodg- 
ing, and  to  the  league  office  for  employment. 

The  great  majority  of  negroes  in  Chicago  live  in  a  limited 
area  known  as  the  South  Side.  State  Street  is  the  thorough- 
fare. It  is  the  black  belt  of  the  city.  This  segregation  is  aided 
on  one  hand  by  the  difficulty  of  securing  houses  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  and  on  the  other,  by  the  desire  of  negroes  to 
live  where  they  have  greatest  political  strength.  Previous  to 
the  migration,  hundreds  of  houses  stood  vacant  in  the  sections 
of  the  district  west  of  State  Street  from  which  they  had  moved 
only  a  few  years  before,  when  it  was  found  that  better  homes 
were  available.  The  presence  of  negroes  in  an  exclusively  white 
locality  usually  brought  forth  loud  protests  and  frequently  ended 
in  the  abandonment  of  the  block  by  whites.  The  old  district 
lying  west  of  State  Street  held  the  worst  type  of  houses.  It 
was  also  in  disrepute  because  of  its  proximity  to  the  old  segre- 


CHICAGO    AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  105 

gated. vice  area.  The  newcomers,  unacquainted  with  its  repu- 
tation, found  no  hesitancy  in  moving  in  until  better  homes  could 
be  secured. 

Congestion  has  been  a  serious  problem  only  during  short 
periods  when  the  influx  was  greater  than  the  city's  immediate 
capacity  for  distributing  them.  During  the  summer  of  1917 
this  was  the  situation.  A  canvass  of  real  estate  dealers  sup- 
plying houses  for  negroes  conducted  by  the  Chicago  Urban 
League  revealed  the  fact  that  on  a  single  day  there  were  661 
negro  applicants  for  houses,  and  only  50  supplied,  while  there 
were  07  houses  advertised  for  rent.  In  some  instances  as  many 
as  ten  persons  were  listed  for  a  single  house.  This  condition 
did  not  continue  long.  There  were  counted  thirty-six  new 
localities  opening  up  to  negroes  within  three  months.  These 
localities  were  formerly  white. 

An  accompaniment  to  this  congestion  was  the  increase  in 
rents  of  from  5  to  30  per  cent  and  sometimes  as  high  as  50 
per  cent.  This  was  explained  by  landlords  as  a  return  to  former 
standards  after  the  property  had  depreciated  through  the  coming 
in  of  negroes.  A  more  detailed  study  of  living  conditions 
among  the  migrants  in  Chicago  was  made  by  a  student  of  the 
School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy.  The  study  included  75 
families  of  less  than  a  year's  residence.  In  the  group  were  60 
married  couples,  128  children,  eight  women  and  nine  married 
men  with  families  in  the  South. 

How  this  large  group — 265  persons — fresh  from  a  region 
where  life  is  enlivened  by  a  mild  climate  and  ample  space  was 
to  find  living  quarters  in  an  overcrowded  section  of  two  Chicago 
blocks  was  a  problem  of  many  aspects.  A  single  furnished  room, 
rented  by  the  week,  provided  the  solution  for  each  of  41  fami- 
lies, while  21  families  rented  homes  by  the  month,  four  families 
occupied  two  rooms  each.  In  some  instances,  this  meant  over- 
crowding so  serious  as  to  threaten  morals  and  health.  The 
Urban  League  interested  corporations  and  capitalists  in  the 
construction  of  modern  apartment  houses  with  small  individual 
apartments.  It  endeavored  also  to  have  the  city  see  the  neces- 
sity  of   preventing  occupancy   of   the  physically   unfit   houses. 


106  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

The  league  conducted  a  campaign  to  educate  the  masses  in  re- 
gard to  housing,  and  payment  of  exorbitant  rents  was  discour- 
aged. The  various  city  departments  were  asked  to  enforce 
ordinances  in  negro  neighborhoods.  In  this  way  the  league 
tried  to  reduce  overcrowding  and  extortionate  rentals. 

All  of  the  arrivals  here  did  not  stay.  They  were  only  tem- 
porary guests  awaiting  the  opportunity  to  proceed  further  and 
settle  in  surrounding  cities  and  towns.  This  tendency  appears 
to  have  been  to  reach  those  fields  offering  the  highest  wages 
and  most  permanent  prospects.  With  Chicago  as  a  center  there 
are  within  a  radius  of  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  a  number  of  smaller  industrial  centers — suburbs  of 
Chicago  in  which  enterprises  have  sprung  up  because  of  the 
nearness  to  the  unexcelled  shipping  and  other  facilities  which 
Chicago  furnished.  A  great  many  of  the  migrants  who  came 
to  Chicago  found  employment  in  these  satellite  places.^ 

One  of  these  towns  was  Rockford,  a  city  of  about  55,000 
people  before  Camp  Grant  began  to  add  to  its  population.  It 
is  estimated  that  there  were  about  1,500  negroes  in  Rockford, 
1,000  of  whom  came  in  during  1916  and  1917.  The  Rockford 
Malleable  Iron  Company,  which  never  hired  more  than  five 
or  six  negroes  until  two  years  ago,  has  nearly  one  hundred 
in  its  employ.  A  timekeeper,  five  inspectors,  a  machinist,  a 
porter,  three  foremen  and  twenty  of  the  molders  are  negroes. 
The  Free  Sewing  Machine  Company,  Emerson  and  Birmingham, 
the  Trahern  Pump  Company  and  the  two  knitting  factories 
began  also  to  employ  negroes.  The  standard  wage  prevailed, 
and,  while  the  unskilled  work  was  largely  given  to  the  negroes, 
there  were  instances  when  opportunity  was  given  for  them  to 
follow  pursuits  requiring  skill. 

Housing  showed  every  evidence  of  congestion.  The  city  was 
unprepared  for  the  unprecedented  increase  in  population  neces- 
sitated by  the  demands  of  its  factories  for  men  to  produce  muni- 
tions of  war.  The  workingmen,  however,  were  soon  better  pro- 
vided for  than  in  some  other  cities.     The  Rockford  Malleable 

1  The  Detroit  branch  of  the  Urban  League  reported,  for  example,  that  a 
great  percentage  of  its  applicants  for  work  were  from  Chicago. 


CHICAGO   AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  107 

Iron  Company  conducted  two  houses  for  the  accommodation  of 
its  employes  and  rented  several  smaller  ones/  This  company 
had  recently  purchased  a  large  acreage  and  was  considering  the 
advisability  of  building  houses  for  its  employes,  including  the 
negro  migrants.  The  Emerson  and  Birmingham  Company  and 
the  Sewing  Machine  Company  had  similar  plans  under  advise- 
ment. 

The  Rockford  Malleable  Iron  Company  was  the  first  to  use 
negroes.  In  the  fall  of  1916  the  first  negro  employes  were 
brought  in  from  Canton,  Illinois,  through  a  Mr.  Robinson  then 
employed  by  the  company  as  a  molder.  There  were  nine 
molders  in  the  group.  At  brief  intervals  Tuskegee  sent  up  four, 
then  five,  then  eight  and  then  six  men,  most  of  whom  had  had 
training  in  machinery  and  molding.  The  total  number  of  Tus- 
kegee boys  was  32.  Robinson  also  brought  men  from  Metrop- 
olis, Illinois,  and  from  Kankakee.  He  made  a  trip  through 
Alabama  and  brought  up  15  or  16.  Most  of  these  were  laborers. 
Seven  laborers  came  as  a  result  of  correspondence  with  a 
physician  from  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  From  Christiansburg,  Vir- 
ginia, the  only  negro  blacksmith  came.  The  Urban  League 
also  sent  up  some  men  from  Chicago.  The  company  was  so 
pleased  with  the  men's  service  that  they  called  upon  the  Urban 
League  for  more  men  and  placed  in  its  hands  a  fund  for  their 
railroad  expenses.^ 

Negroes  were  promoted  from  time  to  time  and  were  used 
in  every  department  of  the  shop.  One  of  the  men  was  an  in- 
spector. Two  new  machines  turning  out  work  faster  than 
any  other  machine  were  turned  over  to  the  negroes.  All  of 
them  were  given  steady  work  without  being  forced  to  lay  off, 
and  their  wages  were  increased.  Street  car  companies  and  offi- 
cials in  Rockford  have  congratulated  the  men  upon  their  con- 
duct. Two  of  the  men  who  came  up  from  the  South  were 
purchasing  property. 

When  the  increase  in  negro  population  became  noticeable,  a 

1  The  two  large  houses  accommodated  fifty  to  sixty  men.  One  of  these 
was  known  as  the  Tuskegee  Club  House  and  housed  only  men  from 
Tuskegee  Institute. 

2  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 


108  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

good  deal  cri  discrimination  appeared  in  public  places.  The 
mayor  of  the  city,  therefore,  called  a  conference  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  of  representatives  from  Camp  Grant,  hotels,  skat- 
ing rinks  and  other  public  places  and  read  the  civil  rights  law 
to  them.  He  gave  them  to  understand  that  Rock  ford  would 
not  stand  for  discrimination  between  races.  When  some  of 
the  conferees  thought  they  would  like  to  have  separate  tables 
in  the  restaurants  the  mayor  opposed  them  and  insisted  that  there 
should  be  no  such  treatment.  One  restaurant,  which  displayed 
a  sign,  "  We  do  not  cater  to  colored  trade,"  was  given  orders 
by  the  Chief  of  Police  to  take  it  down  in  fifteen  minutes,  when 
his  deputy  would  arrive  with  instructions  to  carry  out  the  law 
in  case  the  sign  was  not  removed. 

Waukegan,  a  town  thirty  miles  northwest  of  Chicago,  with 
a  total  population  of  about  22,000  has  approximately  400  negroes, 
where  two  years  ago  there  were  about  275.  The  Wilder  Tan- 
ning Company  and  the  American  Steel  and  Wire  Company  em- 
ployed the  largest  number  of  these  negroes.  These  firms  worked 
about  60  and  80  respectively.  Smaller  numbers  were  employed 
by  the  Gas  Company,  the  Calk  Mill,  the  Cyclone  Fence  Com- 
pany, the  Northwestern  Railroad  freight  house  and  a  bed  spring 
factory  and  several  were  working  at  the  Great  Lakes  Naval 
Training  Station.  A  few  found  employment  as  porters  in 
barber  shops  and  theaters.  At  the  Wilder  Tanning  Company  and 
the  American  Steel  and  Wire  Company,  opportunity  was  given 
negroes  to  do  semiskilled  work.  The  former  was  working 
negroes  into  every  branch  of  its  industry.  The  average  daily 
wage  here  was  about  $3.^ 

1  In  May,  1917,  the  Sherman  House  on  Genesee  Street  in  the  heart  of  the 
city  became  a  negro  hotel.  It  has  19  bedrooms  and  accommodates  35  men. 
It  was  poorly  managed  and  dirty.  A  barber  shop,  pool  room  and  dining 
room  were  run  in  connection  with  it  and  were  also  poorly  managed.  The 
manager  of  the  hotel  is  one  of  the  newcomers.  A  rooming  house  and  dance 
hall  for  negroes  is  operated  in  another  section  of  the  city.  The  Wilder 
Tanning  Company  was  building  a  hotel  for  50  single  men  and  individual 
houses  of  five,  six,  seven  and  eight  rooms  for  families.  Houses  for  white 
workmen  were  to  be  built  by  the  company  after  these  were  completed. 
Lawrence  Wilder,  president  of  the  company,  stated  that  the  building  of 
these  houses  was  no  "  experiment."  "  They  are  being  put  up  to  stay." 
Hot  and  cold  water,  hot  air,  heat,  electric  lights,  and  shower  baths  will  be 
in  the  hotel.  Single  rooms  will  rent  for  $1.25.  double  rooms  $2.50  per  week. 
No  women  will  be  permitted  to  live  in  the  hotel.     A  social  room  will  be 


CHICAGO   AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  109 

The  secretary  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  believed  that 
the  influx  did  not  cause  anything  more  than  a  ripple  on  the 
surface.  He  said :  "  I  cover  everything  when  I  say  that,  no 
apparent  increase  in  crime;  no  trouble  among  themselves;  no 
race  friction."  Theaters  began  to  discriminate,  but  soon  ceased. 
The  proprietor  of  the  Sheridan  Club  stated  that  he  took  a  group 
of  men  to  one  theater  which  had  shown  signs  of  discrimination. 
Each  man  was  told  to  purchase  his  own  ticket.  The  owner 
observing  the  scheme  admitted  them.  Very  few  restaurants 
refuse  to  serve  negroes.  Only  one  openly  segregated  them  to  a 
particular  part  of  the  dining-room.  Absolutely  no  trouble  was 
experienced  in  the  schools.  The  police  commissioner  sees  that 
the  negroes  have  the  protection  of  the  law. 

East  Chicago,  an  industrial  center  located  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  Chicago  with  a  population  now  made  up  in  large 
part  of  Hungarians,  Poles,  Italians  and  negroes,  had  only  one 
negro  family  in  1915.  During  the  month  of  August,  1916,  about 
150  negroes  came  and  others  soon  followed.  At  present  there 
are  about  75  families,  35  or  40  children  of  school  age  and  about 
450  men  working  in  the  industrial  plants.  The  majority  of 
these  newcomers  were  from  the  rural  districts  of  Alabama  and 
Georgia,  with  a  few  from  Mississippi.  A  large  number  of 
negroes,  moreover,  live  in  Indiana  Harbor  and  in  Chicago  and 
work  in  East  Chicago.^ 

Some  of  the  people  went  to  Indiana  Harbor  for  church  serv- 

within  easy  access  of  all  occupants.  No  meals  will  be  served  at  the  hotel,, 
but  will  be  served  at  the  plant.  The  houses  will  be  one  and  two  stories 
and  can  be  purchased  on  a  monthly  basis.  A  street  car  line  will  connect 
the  plant  and  the  subdivision. 

Before  the  influx  the  Cyclone  Fence  Company  and  the  Calk  Mill  Com- 
pany were  said  to  have  sworn  never  to  employ  negro  labor.  The  Wilder 
Tanning  Company  and  the  American  Steel  and  Wire  Company  have  standing" 
invitations  for  negro  men  with  references. — Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration 
to  Chicago. 

^  They  were  employed  by  the  Gasselli  Chemical  Company,  Goldsmiths 
Detinning  Company,  the  International  Lead  Refining  Company,  the  United 
States  Reduction  Company,  the  United  States  Refining  Company,  Hobson 
and  Walker's  Brick  Yard,  the  Inland  Steel  Foundry,  Interstate  Mill,  the 
Cudahy  Soap  Factory  and  the  Republic  Rolling  Mill.  The  Hobson  and 
Walker's  Brick  Yard  employed  200  and  provided  houses  within  the  yards 
for  the  families  of  the  workmen.  The  International  Lead  Refining  Company 
provided  lodging  for  its  men  in  remodeled  box  cars.  Wages  for  ordinary 
labor  ranged  from  $2.50  to  $4.50  per  day.     This  did  not  include  the  amount 


110  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

ices.  During  the  summer  of  1917,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
organize  a  church,  but  it  was  unsuccessful  and  almost  excited 
a  racial  conflict.  The  negroes  from  Alabama  and  Georgia  com- 
plained about  the  wickedness  of  East  Chicago,  and  declared  their 
intentions  of  going  home,  "  where  they  can  sing  without  ap- 
pearing strange,  and  where  they  can  hear  somebody  else  pray 
besides  themselves."  Few  racial  clashes,  however,  have  fol- 
lowed. A  strike  which  occurred  at  Gasselli's  Chemical  Company 
was  at  first  thought  to  be  a  protest  of  the  foreigners  against 
the  80  negroes  employed  there.  Nothing  serious  developed 
from  it.  The  only  apparent  dangers  were  in  thoughtlessness 
on  the  part  of  negroes  in  their  conduct.  They  were  too  badly 
needed  in  industry  to  be  harshly  treated  either  by  the  foreigners 
or  their  employers.^ 

In  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  as  in  other  cities,  it  was  impossible  to 
find  out  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  the  approximate  number 
of  negroes.  Estimates  of  the  number  ranged  from  700  to  2,000, 
whereas,  before  the  influx,  the  black  population  was  as  low  as 
200.  The  total  population  of  Beloit  is  about  20,000.  There 
are  now  two  negro  churches,  a  Baptist  and  an  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal.  The  Baptist  church  was  said  to  be  made  up 
entirely  of  new  people.     Beloit  did  not  have  a  negro  Baptist 

that  might  be  made  by  overtime  work.  The  brick  yard  employed  negroes 
for  unskilled  work  at  35  cents  an  hour.  A  few  skilled  negroes  employed 
were  receiving  from  $4.75  to  $7  a  day. 

Negroes  are  fairly  well  scattered  throughout  the  foreign  residential  sec- 
tion. A  small  area  known  as  "Oklahoma"  or  "  Calumet "  had  perhaps 
the  largest  number.  The  houses  were  overcrowded,  dark,  insanitary,  without 
privacy  and  generally  unattractive.  All  of  the  rooms  were  sleeping  rooms, 
usually  with  two  beds  in  a  room  accommodating  six  men.  Rent  was  high, 
and  ranged  from  $15  to  $25  a  month  for  four  and  five  room  flats  in  very 
unattractive  buildings.  Single  lodgers  paid  from  $1.50  to  $1.75  a  week. 
Restaurant  rates  were  exorbitant  and  food  was  so  high  that  many  of  the 
families  bought  their  provisions  in  Chicago. 

There  were  no  churches  or  in  fact  any  wholesome  social  institutions  in 
town.  There  were  many  flourishing  saloons.  There  was  one  colored  pool 
room,  and  one  colored  restaurant.  On  occasions,  a  hall  belonging  to  the 
whites  was  used  for  dances  and  socials. — Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration 
to  Chicago. 

1  Following  each  pay  day  from  twenty  to  thirty  negroes  left  for  their 
homes  in  the  South.  Some  returned  when  their  funds  were  about  exhausted 
and  worked  five  or  six  months  more.  Others  remained  at  home  for  the 
winter.  "  It  was  expected  that  the  brick  yard  would  lose  a  very  large  num- 
ber on  the  8th  of  November.  On  the  15th  of  December  another  large  con- 
tingent leaves  for  the  South." — Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 


CHICAGO    AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  111 

preacher  until  the  migration,  and  had  no  negro  physicians. 
Prior  to  the  influx  there  was  httle  discrimination,  except  in 
some  of  the  restaurants  and  occasionally  in  the  theaters.  One 
negro  was  working  at  the  post  office,  and  another  at  the  railroad 
station.  Aside  from  these,  the  negro  men  were  practically  all 
laborers  and  porters. 

As  is  true  in  most  small  cities,  one  company  took  the  initiative 
in  sending  for  men  from  the  South,  The  Fairbanks  Morse  Com- 
pany was  the  pioneer  corporation  in  this  respect  in  Beloit.  This 
company  hires  at  present  200  men.  Most  of  these  came  from 
Mississippi.  In  fact,  Albany  and  Pontotoc,  small  towns  in 
Mississippi,  are  said  to  have  dumped  their  entire  population  in 
Beloit.  A  few  from  Memphis,  Tennessee,  were  employed  there 
but  the  company  preferred  Mississippians,  and  had  agents  at 
work  in  that  State  getting  men  for  its  plant.  It  was  said  to 
be  fair  in  its  treatment  of  negroes  and  to  pay  the  standard 
wages.^ 

Milwaukee  was  one  of  the  ready  recipients  of  negro  migrants 
from  other  points  in  the  North.  Following  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  the  consequent  cessation  of  foreign  immigration  and  the 
withdrawal  of  a  number  of  aliens  from  the  labor  market  to 
follow  their  national  colors,  a  large  demand  for  negro  labor 
was  for  the  first  time  created.  Milwaukee  apparently  could  not 
attract  voluntary  migration,  and  the  larger  plants  were  forced 
to  import  some  1,200  southern  negroes  to  man  their  industries. 
In  1910,  the  city  had  a  negro  population  of  980.  There  are 
now   in  Milwaukee  about  2,700   negroes  of  whom   1,500   are 


1  There  was  great  congestion  in  housing,  as  the  negroes  were  restricted 
to  certain  sections  with  homes  usually  kept  in  insanitary  condition.  A 
very  large  housing  plan  of  the  company  met  with  objection  on  the  part 
of  the  white  citizens  who  sent  in  a  petition  to  the  City  Council  against 
building  houses  for  negroes.  The  City  Council  said  they  wanted  the  housing 
property  for  park  purposes.  The  matter  was  taken  to  court.  The  Council 
condemned  the  property  but  failed  to  sustain  the  belief  that  it  was  needed 
for  a  park.  Through  various  methods  of  red  tape  and  legal  procedure 
the  matter  was  delayed.  The  company  then  built  houses  on  a  smaller  scale. 
The  plans  included  two  apartment  houses  that  would  accommodate  six 
families  each.  There  were  also  in  the  course  of  erection  houses  for  men 
with  families  to  take  the  place  of  some  improvised  huts  which  the  company 
had  found  necessary  to  use  to  facilitate  the  work  of  the  men. — Johnson, 
Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 


112  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

newcomers,  not  only   from  the  South,  but  from  the  adjacent 
States  of  IlHnois,  Iowa,  Michigan  and  Minnesota/ 

This  migration  to  Milwaukee  caused  a  number  of  difficulties. 
The  first  difficulty  to  arise  was  in  the  relationship  of  the  migrant 
to  the  old  residents  of  the  city.  Like  the  newly  arrived  for- 
eigners they  lived  rather  "  close  lives,"  had  little  contact  with 
the  people  of  the  community  and  as  a  consequence  were  slow 
in  changing  their  southern  standards.  This  lack  of  contact 
was  registered  in  the  slight  attendance  in  the  colored  churches, 
which  are  by  far  the  most  common  medium  of  personal  contact 
among  negroes.  The  leading  pastors  and  two  others  who  have 
made  unsuccessful  attempts  to  establish  churches  complained 
that  the  newcomers,  although  accustomed  to  going  to  church 
in  their  old  homes,  "  strayed  from  the  fold  "  in  the  large  city. 
There  was  also  a  certain  unmistakable  reticence  on  the  part 
of  the  newcomers  with  respect  to  the  negroes  of  longer  resi- 
dence. The  new  arrivals  were  at  times  suspicious  of  the  motives 
of  the  older  residents,  and  resented  being  advised  how  to  con- 
duct themselves.  They  were  for  the  most  part  not  in  touch 
with  any  civic  agency.  The  migrants,  therefore,  came  into 
contact  with  the  lower  element.  The  recreations  and  amuse- 
ments of  the  newcomers  were  those  which  the  social  outcasts 
furnished  them.^ 

Another  anomaly  was  to  be  observed  in  the  motives  behind 
the  migration.  The  most  recent  European  immigrants,  unfa- 
miliar with  the  character  of  the  plants,  having  strong  bodies 
and  a  disposition  to  work,  are  engaged  as  unskilled  laborers. 
They  do  not,  of  course,  remain  at  this  level,  but  are  continually 
pushed  forward  by  later  comers.  The  men  who  filled  these 
lower  positions  were  not  the  best  type  of  foreigners.  When 
the  war  began  and  this  influx  from  Europe  was  stopped,  it  was 
for  these  positions  that  the  plants  were  forced  to  seek  men. 
Negroes  were  sought  in  the  South,  but,  unfortunately,  the  em- 
phasis was  placed  on  quantity  and  not  quality.  Those  who  were 
able  to  move  on  shortest  notice,  those  with  few  responsibilities 

1  Before  1910,  114  persons  had  arrived;  between  1911  and  1915,  72;  during 
1916,  74;  durng  1917,  102;  and  during  1918,  40  persons  had  arrived. 

2  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 


CHICAGO    AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  113 

and  few  interests  at  home,  were  snapped  up  by  the  labor  agents. 
This  blunder  has  also  registered  itself  in  the  records  of  the 
city  and  the  character  of  the  negro  migrants.  This  was  probably 
due  to  the  fact  that  little  is  known  of  Milwaukee  in  the  South. 
Unlike  Chicago,  Detroit,  New  York  and  other  northern  cities, 
it  was  not  a  popular  destination  for  voluntary  migration.  Agents 
who  scoured  the  South  for  men  testified  that  in  a  large  number 
of  cases  the  first  question  asked  was  whether  or  not  Milwaukee 
was  a  wet  town,  for  the  southern  States  have  prohibited  the 
sale  of  liquor.  While  Chicago  got  advertisement  in  the  South 
through  its  great  mail  order  business,  most  of  what  was  known 
of  Milwaukee  related  to  its  breweries. 

The  negroes  here,  however,  had  numerous  industrial  oppor- 
tunities. The  manner  in  which  the  trades  suddenly  opened 
up  to  them  made  it  difficult  to  ascertain  the  number  of  negroes 
so  engaged.  An  intensive  study  of  a  neighborhood  showed  a 
much  wider  variety  of  skilled  negro  laborers  and  brought  to 
light  the  cases  of  many  not  otherwise  known.  One  man  in 
touch  with  the  iron  workers  of  the  city  ventured  the  statement 
that  there  were  perhaps  75  negroes  engaged  in  skilled  work 
in  the  iron  and  steel  industries  of  the  city.  In  a  large  number 
of  other  plants  one  or  two  negroes  had  succeeded  in  finding 
skilled  employment.  Firms  known  to  employ  negroes  in  the 
capacity  of  skilled  workmen  are  the  Plankington  Packing  Com- 
pany, Wehr  Steel  and  Machine  Shops,  the  National  Malleable 
Iron  Works,  A.  J.  Lindeman-Hoverson  Company  and  the  Mil- 
waukee Coke  and  Gas  Company.  For  the  most  part  skilled 
negroes  are  butchers  and  molders.^ 

In  the  case  of  negroes  from  the  South  with  trades,  however, 
there  arose  a  situation  which  is  seldom  fully  appreciated.  A 
man  in  the  South  may  be  skilled  in  such  an  independent  trade 
as  shoemaking,  tailoring,  carpentry  and  the  like,  but  in  a  north- 
ern city  with  its  highly  specialized  industrial  processes  and  divi- 
sions of  labor,  he  must  learn  over  again  what  he  thought  he 
had  mastered,  or  abandon  his  trade  entirely  and  seek  employ- 
ment in  unskilled  lines.     The  wages  for  skilled  work  were  for 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 


114  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

butchers,  55  to  64  cents  an  hour;  for  steel  molders,  35  to  47 
cents  an  hour;  for  firemen,  $27  per  week;  for  chauffeurs,  $15 
to  $30  a  week;  for  shoemakers,  $20  a  week;  stationary  firemen, 
$24  a  week.  The  mass  of  negroes,  men  and  women,  gainfully 
employed  in  the  city  was  made  up  of  manual  laborers.  Vacan- 
cies for  negroes  in  industry  were  made  at  the  bottom.  .The 
range  of  occupations  in  unskilled  work,  however,  was  fairly 
wide.  They  were  packing  house  employes,  muckers,  tannery 
laborers,  street  construction  workers,  dock  hands  and  foundry 
laborers.  Their  wages  were  for  foundry  laborers,  32^/^  cents 
to  35  cents  an  hour;  for  muckers,  $28  a  week;  for  tannery 
laborers,  $24  a  week;  dock  hands,  60  cents  an  hour;  and  for 
packing  house  laborers,  43  cents  an  hour  (male),  and  30V2  cents 
an  hour  (female).  There  were  also  porters  in  stores  and  jan- 
itors whose  weekly  wages  averaged  between  $15  and  $18  per 
week. 

Several  firms  made  strenuous  efforts  to  induce  laborers  to 
come  from  the  South.  The  Pfister-Vogel  Company  employed  a 
negro  to  secure  them  for  this  purpose,  and  made  preparation 
for  their  lodging  and  board.  This  representative  stated  that 
he  was  responsible  for  the  presence  of  about  300  negroes  in 
the  city.  Reverend  J.  S,  Woods  of  the  Booker  T,  Washington 
social  settlement,  who  was  actively  engaged  in  assisting  the 
plants,  asserted  that  he  had  placed  over  400.  The  Albert  Trostel 
Company  paid  transportation  for  nearly  100  men. 

The  principal  industries  employing  negroes  with  the  number 
employed  were  about  as  follows  :^ 

Number 
Firm  Male  Female 

Plankington  Packing  Co 78  10 

Albert  Trostel  Leather  Co 75  30 

Faulk's  Manufacturing  Co.   , 34 

Hoffman  Manufacturing  Co 2 

Tunnell  Construction  Co 10 

Milwaukee  Coke  and  Gas  Co 38 

Pfister-Vogel  Tannery    75 

A,  J.  Lindeman-Hoverson  Co 13 

National   Malleable   Iron   Co 22 

Solvay  Steel  Castings  Co 24 

Allis   Chalmers    , 70 

^Johnson,  Report  on  fhe  Migration  to  Chicago. 


CHICAGO    AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  115 

On  December  1,  1917,  the  Plankington  Packing  Company 
employed  93  men  and  27  women.  The  Pfister-Vogel  Company 
had  only  75  men  in  its  employ.  This  company,  however,  within 
18  months  had  employed  300  negroes  from  the  South. 

Concerning  the  range  of  wages  for  negroes  in  these  lines 
the  data  provided  by  these  firms  gave  some  means  of  informa- 
tion. 

Firms  Male  Female 

Plankington   Packing  Co 43c  to  64c  an   hour    3OV2C  an  hour 

Faulk's  Manufacturing  Co.  . . .  35c  to  47c  an  hour   

Hoffman  Manufacturing  Co.    .  32%c   an   hour    

Tunnell  Construction  Co $4  a  day   

Albert  Trostel  Co 40c  an  hour   30c  an  hour 

Milwaukee   Coke  and  Gas  Co.  $3.67    to    $4.79    a    day 

A.  J.  Lindeman-Hoverson  Co.  $3  to  $5  a  day 

National  Malleable  Iron  Co.  ..  3Sc  an  hour  to  $4  a  day 

Pfister-Vogel  Tannery   $22  to  $24  a  week 

The  quality  of  the  workingmen  is  of  interest  both  to  the 
employers  and  social  workers.  To  get  uniform  data  employers 
were  asked  the  principal  faults  and  principal  merits  of  their 
negro  workmen.  To  the  question,  "  What  are  the  principal 
faults  of  your  negro  workmen?  "  these  answers  were  given:  ^ 

None  that  predominate. 

The  principal  fault  of  negro  workmen  is,  they  are  slow  and  very  hard  to 

please. 
Not  good  on  rapid  moving  machinery,  have  not  had  mechanical  training; 

slow ;  not  stable. 
Inclined  to  be  irregular  in  attendance  to  work. 
Very  unsteady. 
Leave  in  summertime  for  road  work. 

To  the  question,  "  What  are  the  principal  merits  of  your 
negro  workmen  ?  "  these  answers  were  given : 

They  are  superior  to  foreign  labor  because  they  readily  understand  what 

you  try  to  tell  them. 
Loyalty,  willingness,  cheerfulness. 
The  skilled  men  stick  and  are  good  workmen. 
Generally  speaking  they  are  agreeable  workmen. 
Quicker,  huskier,  and  can  stand  more  heat  than  other  workmen. 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 


116  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

The  attitude  of  white  and  black  workmen  toward  one  an- 
other in  none  of  the  plants  visited  presented  anything  like 
a  serious  situation.  The  following  are  answers  to  questions 
relating  to  this  sentiment  as  returned  by  the  important 
industries :  ^  * 

No   feeling — no  complaints — no  comments. 

White  and  black  get  along  well.  There  was  a  little  trouble  some  time 
ago  between  a  Jewish  foreman  and  his  negro  workmen.  All  the 
negroes  quit.    The  matter  was  investigated  and  the  foreman  discharged. 

Good. 

The  relations  are  favorable,  although  negroes  appear  a  bit  clannish. 

Good   fellowship  prevails. 

Negroes  do  not  stay  long  enough  to  get  acquainted. 

Good  in  most  cases.  Very  little  opposition.  They  are  working  as  helpers 
with  whites.    Few  objections. 

As  a  final  effort  to  get  the  opinion  of  employers  themselves 
concerning  the  best  means  of  improving  their  labor,  a  sugges- 
tion from  them  on  this  matter  was  solicited.  Their  views  are 
subjoined :  ^ 

A  rather  broad  question  and  one  that  could  only  be  answered  after  con- 
siderable study.  Believe  the  great  trouble  with  negro  labor  has  been 
the  fact  that  a  poor  class  of  negroes  has  been  employed  by  many.  We 
have  a  good  lot  of  workers  now. 

Some  means  should  be  devised  to  get  them  away  from  their  general  shift- 
less ways. 

Education. 

As  a  negro  can  be  very  contented  and  happy  on  very  little,  if  their  living 
conditions  were  improved  and  the  desire  created  in  them  to  improve 
their  condition,  this  would  be  a  help  towards  encouragement  in  better- 
ing their  social  condition.  In  fact,  we  feel  that  anything  that  would 
help  to  better  the  social  attention  of  the  negro  would  make  him  a 
better  workman. 

Better  housing  and  supervision  through  some  responsible  organization. 
Some   way  to   keep   sympathetic  watch   over  them. 

Without  doubt  there  is  an  element  of  truth  in  each  of  these 
comments.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  a  large  number  of 
these  men  register  by  their  actions  instability,  irregularity  and 
general  shiftlessness.     Some  of  these  cases  are  inexcusable,  and 

1  Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to  Chicago. 

2  Ibid. 


CHICAGO    AND    ITS    ENVIRONS  117 

the  only  reason  for  thtir  connection  with  the  industry  is  the  fact 
that  they  were  brought  from  the  South,  where  they  were  volun- 
tarily idle,  by  agents  of  employers.  The  importation  merely 
shifted  the  scene  of  their  deliberate  loafing  and  spasmodic  con- 
tact with  work. 

Employers  in  all  of  the  plants  know  that  they  have  had 
difficulty  in  holding  their  negro  labor,  but  do  not  know  why. 
Most  of  the  men  willing  to  leave  the  city  were  unmarried  men 
with  few  responsibilities.  These  are  the  ones  who  found  em- 
ployment there  and,  being  dissatisfied,  quit.  The  highest  negro 
labor  turnover  was  in  the  leather  factories.  But  for  this  there 
was  a  reason.  The  only  employment  permitted  negroes  there 
was  wet  and  very  disagreeable  beam  work,  and  at  wages  not 
in  excess  of  those  paid  by  neighboring  plants  with  a  different 
grade  of  work.  Inquiries  among  laboring  men  reveal  reasons 
plausible  indeed  to  the  laborers  themselves,  which  in  many  cases 
would  have  been  found  reasonable  also  by  the  employers. 

It  is  generally  known  that  all  classes  of  labor  of  all  nationali- 
ties are  in  an  unsettled  state.  Shifting  to  the  higher  paid  in- 
dustries is  common.  In  consequence  the  disagreeable  and  poorly 
paid  ones  have  suffered.  The  instability  of  negroes,  especially 
in  those  industries  that  have  been  so  hard  pressed  as  to  find 
it  necessary  to  go  South  for  men,  is  not  so  much  a  group 
characteristic  as  an  expression  of  present  tendencies  in  labor 
generally. 

Reasons  of  a  more  intimate  nature  advanced  by  the  men  for 
changing  jobs  are  numerous.  Among  these  are  dissatisfaction 
with  the  treatment  of  petty  white  bosses,  the  necessity  for  ready 
money  for  the  care  of  their  families,  the  distance  of  the  plants 
from  the  district  in  which  the  negro  workmen  live  ^  and  the 
unpleasant  indoor  work  in  certain  factories. 

The  social  condition  of  negroes  in  Milwaukee  is  not  alarming. 
There    are    indicated,    however,    unmistakable    maladjustments 

^  A  simple  situation  of  this  nature  registers  itself  without  explanation 
against  the  character  of  negroes  in  the  records  of  the  firms.  The  Pfister- 
Vogel  Company  had  a  house  on  Clinton  Street  in  which  lived  twenty  or 
more  negroes.  This  location  is  eight  or  ten  miles  away  from  the  com- 
munity in  which  negroes  live.  There  are  no  amusements  for  these  young 
men  around  Clinton  Street.    The  cars  stop  running  at  a  comparatively  early 


118  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

which  require  immediate  attention.  But  even  these  will  not 
become  alarming,  if  checked  now,  when  preventive  measures  can 
be  made  practicable,  attractive  and  easy. 

The  neighborhoods  in  which  negroes  live  have  long  showed 
evidence  of  physical  and  moral  deterioration.  The  addition 
of  1,400  negroes  from  the  South,  over  70  per  cent  of  whom 
were  brought  to  the  city  by  companies  seeking  labor,  hastened 
the  deterioration  and  gave  rise  to  problems  where  only  tenden- 
cies existed  before.  Neighborhood  life  is  conspicuously  lax 
and  the  spirit  of  the  community  quite  naturally  comports  with 
the  looseness  and  immorality  of  the  district.  Though  such  con- 
ditions are  plainly  evident,  no  organized  influence  has  been 
projected  to  correct  them.  As  with  the  neighborhood,  so  with 
housing,  crime,  delinquency,  education,  recreation,  industry,  and 
the  like,  the  conditions  which  retard  developmental  habits  must 
have  constant  vigilance  and  treatment. 

hour.  If  they  go  to  the  city  they  must  either  come  back  in  a  taxicab  or  spend 
the  evening  away  from  home.  It  is  less  expensive  to  spend  the  evening 
away.  As  a  result  they  are  late  for  work  and  may  not  report.  If  they 
report,  they  are  tired  and  unfit  for  work.  If  they  do  not  they  are  put 
down  as  irregular  and  unsteady. — Johnson,  Report  on  the  Migration  to 
Chicago. 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  Situation  at  Points  in  the  Middle  West 

The  most  important  city  in  this  section  to  be  affected  by  the 
migration  was  Pittsburgh,  the  gateway  to  the  West.  The  Pitts- 
burgh district  is  the  center  of  the  steel  industry.  For  this  reason, 
the  war  caused  the  demand  for  labor  to  be  extremely  heavy  there. 
Pittsburgh  was  one  of  the  centers  to  which  the  greatest  number 
of  negroes  went.  Before  the  migration,  a  considerable  number 
of  negroes  were  employed  there.  In  1900,  the  negro  population 
of  Allegheny  county,  in  which  Pittsburgh  is  situated,  was  27,753. 
In  1910  it  was  34,217.  When  the  migration  began,  the  county 
had  about  38,000  negroes.  Investigations  and  estimates  indicate 
that,  at  the  end  of  1917,  the  negro  population  of  the  county  had 
increased  to  almost  66,000.  Epstein  in  his  survey  of  The  Negro 
Migrant  in  Pittsburgh  said  :  ^ 

From  a  canvass  of  twenty  tj^pical  industries  in  the  Pittsburgh  district, 
it  was  found  that  there  were  2,550  negroes  employed  in  1915,  and  8,325  in 
1917,  an  increase  of  5,775  or  227  per  cent.  It  was  impossible  to  obtain  labor 
data  from  more  than  approximately  sixty  per  cent  of  the  negro  employing 
concerns,  but  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  same  ratio  of  increase  holds 
true  of  the  remaining  forty  per  cent.  On  this  basis  the  number  of  negroes 
now  employed  in  the  district  may  be  placed  at  14,000.  This  means  that 
there  are  about  9,750  more  negroes  working  in  the  district  today  than  there 
were  in  1915,  an  addition  due  to  the  migration  from  the  South. 

According  to  Epstein,  the  migration  had  been  going  on  for 
little  longer  than  one  year.  Ninety-three  per  cent  of  those 
who  gave  the  time  of  residence  in  Pittsburgh  had  been  there 
less  than  one  year.  More  than  eighty  per  cent  of  the  single 
men  interviewed  had  been  there  less  than  six  months.  In  the 
number  who  had  been  there  for  the  longest  period,  married 
men  predominated,  showing  the  tendency  of  this  class  to  become 

1  Epstein,  The  Negro  Migrant  in  Pittsburgh,  p.  7. 

119 


120  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

permanent  residents.  This  fact  becoming  evident,  some  in- 
dustrial concerns  bringing  men  from  the  South,  having  learned 
from  bitter  experience  that  the  mere  delivery  of  negroes  from 
a  southern  city  did  not  guarantee  a  sufficient  supply  of  labor, 
made  an  effort  to  secure  married  men  only,  and  even  to  investi- 
gate them  prior  to  their  coming.  Differences  in  recruiting 
methods  may  also  explain  why  some  employers  and  labor  agents 
hold  a  very  optimistic  view  of  the  negro  as  a  worker,  while 
others  despair  of  him.  The  reason  why  Pittsburgh  has  been 
unable  to  secure  a  stable  labor  force  is  doubtless  realized  by 
the  local  manufacturers.  IMarried  negroes  come  to  the  North 
to  stay.  They  desire  to  have  their  families  with  them,  and 
if  they  are  not  accompanied  North  by  their  wives  and  children 
they  plan  to  have  them  follow  at  the  earliest  possible  date. 

It  would  appear  that  the  stability  of  the  labor  supply  de- 
pended to  a  very  large  extent  upon  the  housing  conditions.  It 
was  found  that  in  many  instances  men  who  had  families  went 
to  other  cities  where  they  hoped  to  find  better  accommodations. 
The  Pittsburgh  manufacturer  will  never  keep  an  efficient  labor 
supply  of  negroes  until  he  learns  to  compete  with  the  employers 
of  other  cities  in  a  housing  program  as  well  as  in  wages.  The 
negro  migration  in  Pittsburgh,  however,  did  not  cause  a  dis- 
placement of  white  laborers.  Every  man  was  needed,  as  there 
were  more  jobs  than  men  to  fill  them.  Pittsburgh's  industrial 
life  was  for  a  time  dependent  upon  the  negro  labor  supply,  and 
the  city  has  not  received  a  sufficient  supply  of  negroes,  and  cer- 
tainly not  so  many  as  smaller  industrial  towns,  although  the 
railroads  and  a  few  of  the  industrial  concerns  of  the  locality 
have  had  labor  agents  in  the  South.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  diffi- 
culties because  of  the  obstructive  tactics  adopted  in  certain 
southern  communities  to  prevent  the  negro  exodus,  they  have 
nevertheless  succeeded  in  bringing  several  thousand  negroes  into 
this  district.  "  One  company,  for  instance,''  says  Epstein, 
"  which  imported  about  a  thousand  men  within  the  past  year, 
had  only  about  three  hundred  of  these  working  at  the  time  of 
the  investigator's  visit  in  July,  1917.  One  railroad,  which  is 
said   to  have  brought  about   fourteen   thousand  people   to   the 


THE    SITUATIOX    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST  121 

North  within  the  last  twelve  months,  has  been  able  to  keep  an 
average  of  only  eighteen  hundred  at  work."  These  companies, 
however,  have  failed  to  hold  the  newcomers. 

The  problems  created  by  this  sudden  increase  of  Pittsburgh's 
population  were  very  grave.  In  the  early  part  of  1917,  plans 
were  formulated  to  make  a  social  survey  of  the  migrants  in 
Pittsburgh.  Cooperating  in  this  survey  were  the  University 
of  Pittsburgh,  the  /Associated  Charities,  the  Social  Service  Com- 
mission of  the  Churches  of  Christ  and  the  National  League  on 
Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes.  In  March,  1917,  the  direc- 
tor of  the  Department  of  Public  Health,  instructed  the  sanitary 
inspectors  to  pay  special  attention  to  all  premises  occupied  by 
the  "  newcomers."  Another  step  in  this  direction  was  the  es- 
tablishment in  that  city  of  a  branch  of  the  National  League 
on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes. 

A  survey  made  in  1917  showed  that  the  housing  situation  was 
the  most  serious  aspect  of  the  migrants'  social  problems,  and 
that  in  order  to  have  improvements  in  other  lines  housing  con- 
ditions must  be  made  better.  Because  of  the  high  cost  of 
materials  and  labor  incident  to  the  war,  because  the  taxation 
system  still  does  not  encourage  improvements  and  because  of 
investment  attractions  other  than  in  realty,  few  houses  had 
been  built  and  practically  no  improvements  had  been  made.  This 
was  most  strikingly  apparent  in  the  poorer  sections  of  the  city. 
In  the  negro  sections,  for  instance,  there  had  been  almost  no 
houses  added  and  few  vacated  by  whites  within  the  previous 
two  years.  The  addition,  therefore,  of  thousands  of  negroes 
just  arrived  from  southern  States  meant  not  only  the  creation 
of  new  negro  quarters  and  the  dispersion  of  negroes  through- 
out the  city,  but  also  the  utmost  utilization  of  every  place  in 
the  negro  sections  capable  of  being  transformed  into  habitations. 
Attics  and  cellars,  storerooms  and  basements,  churches,  sheds 
and  warehouses  had  to  be  employed  for  the  accommodation 
of  these  newcomers.  Whenever  a  negro  had  space  which  he 
could  possibly  spare,  it  was  converted  into  a  sleeping  place;  as 
many  beds  as  possible  were  crowded  into  it,  and  the  maximum 
number  of  men  per  bed  were  lodged.     Either  because  their  own 


122 


NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 


rents  were  high  or  because  they  were  unable  to  withstand  the 
temptation  of  the  sudden,  and,  for  all  they  knew,  temporary 
harvest,  or  perhaps  because  of  the  altruistic  desire  to  assist  their 
race  fellows,  a  majority  of  the  negroes  in  Pittsburgh  converted 
their  homes  into  lodging  houses. 

Because  rooms  were  hard  to  come  by  the  lodgers  were  not  disposed  to 
complain  about  the  living  conditions  or  the  prices  charged.  They  were  only 
too  glad  to  secure  a  place  where  they  could  share  a  half  or  at  least  a  part 
of  an  unclaimed  bed.  It  was  no  easy  task  to  find  room  for  a  family,  as 
most  boarding  houses  would  accept  only  single  men,  and  refused  to  admit 
women  and  children.  Many  a  man,  who  with  his  family  occupied  only 
one  or  two  rooms,  made  place  for  a  friend  or  former  townsman  and  his 
family.  In  many  instances  this  was  done  from  unselfish  motives  and  in 
a  humane  spirit.^ 

How  the  negroes  are  employed  will  throw  more  light  on  their 
situation.     The  Epstein  investigation  showed  that 

Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  migrants  who  stated  their  occupations  were 
doing  unskilled  labor,  in  the  steel  mills,  the  building  trades,  on  the  railroads, 
or  acting  as  servants,  porters,  janitors,  cooks  and  cleaners.  Only  twenty,  or 
four  per  cent  out  of  493  migrants  whose  occupations  were  ascertained,  were 
doing  what  may  be  called  semiskilled  or  skilled  work,  as  puddlers,  mold- 
setters,  painters  and  carpenters.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  South  59  out 
of  529  claimed  to  have  been  engaged  in  skilled  labor,  while  a  large  number 
were  rural  workers. 

The  following  table  shows  the  occupations  of  migrants  in  Pitts- 
burgh as  compared  with  statements  of  occupations  in  the  South : 

Occupations                 In  Pittsburgh            %              In  South  % 

Common  laborer   468                       95                   286  54 

Skilled  or  semiskilled   20                       4                    59  11 

Farmer    81  15 

Miner   36  7 

Sawmill  workers    9  2 

Ran  own  farm  or  father's  farm  22  5 

Ran  farm  on  crop  sharing  basis  33  6 

Other  occupations   5                         1                       0  0 

It  seerns  clear  that  most  of  the  migrants  were  engaged  in 
unskilled   labor.     The  reason  given   by  the  manufacturers  in 


1  Epstein,   The  Negro  Migrant  in  Pittsburgh,  pp.  7-8. 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST  123 

accounting  for  this  disparity  were  that  the  migrants  are  ineffi- 
cient and  unstable,  and  that  the  opposition  to  them  on  the  part 
of  the  white  labor  prohibits  their  use  on  skilled  jobs/  Ninety- 
five  per  cent  of  the  negro  workers  in  the  steel  mills  were  unskilled 
laborers.  "  In  the  bigger  plants,"  says  the  investigator,  "  where 
many  hundreds  of  negroes  are  employed,  almost  one  hundped 
per  cent  are  doing  common  labor,  while  in  the  smaller  plants, 
a  few  might  be  found  doing  labor  which  required  some  skill." 
Epstein  believes  that  this  idea  is  often  due  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  heads  of  departments  and  other  labor  employers.  A  sym- 
pathetic superintendent  of  one  of  the  large  steel  plants  said 
that  in  many  instances  it  was  the  superintendents  and  managers 
themselves  who  are  not  alive  to  their  own  advantage,  and  so 
oppose  the  negroes  in  doing  the  better  classes  of  work.  The 
same  superintendent  said  that  he  had  employed  negroes  for 
many  years;  that  a  number  of  them  had  been  connected  with 
his  company  for  several  years;  that  they  are  just  as  efficient 
as  the  white  people.  More  than  half  of  the  twenty-five  negroes 
in  his  plant  were  doing  semiskilled  and  even  skilled  work.  He 
had  one  or  two  negro  foremen  over  negro  gangs,  and  cited 
an  instance  of  a  black  man  drawing  $114  in  his  last  two  weeks' 
pay.  This  claim  was  supported  by  a  very  intelligent  negro  who 
was  stopped  a  few  blocks  away  from  the  plant  and  questioned 
as  to  the  conditions  there.  While  admitting  everything  that 
the  superintendent  said,  and  stating  that  there  is  now  absolute 
free  opportunity  for  negroes  in  that  plant,  the  man  asserted 
that  these  conditions  have  obtained  within  the  last  year." 

It  was  found  that  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  the  great  mass 
of  workers  get  higher  wages  than  in  the  places  from  which 

1  The  latter  objection  is  illustrated  by  the  case  of  the  white  bargemen  of 
a  big  steel  company  who  wanted  to  walk  out  because  black  workers  were 
introduced  among  them,  and  who  were  only  appeased  by  the  provision  of 
separate  quarters  for  the  negroes.  While  there  is  an  undeniable  hostility 
to  negroes  on  the  part  of  a  few  white  workers,  the  objection  is  frequently 
exaggerated  by  prejudiced  gang  bosses. 

2  The  same  superintendent  told  of  an  episode  illustrating  the  amicable 
relations  existing  in  his  shop  between  white  and  black  workers.  He  related 
that  a  gang  of  workers  had  come  to  him  with  certain  complaints  and  the 
threat  of  a  walkout.  When  their  grievances  had  been  satisfactorily  adjusted, 
they  pointed  to  the  lonely  black  man  in-  their  group  and  said  that  they  were 
not  ready  to  go  back  unless  their  negro  fellow  worker  was  satisfied. 


124  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

they  come.  Fifty-six  per  cent  received  less  than  $2  a  day  in 
the  South,  while  only  five  per  cent  received  such  wages  in  Pitts- 
burgh. However,  the  number  of  those  who  said  they  received 
high  wages  in  the  South  is  greater  than  the  number  of  those 
receiving  them  there.  Fifteen  per  cent  said  they  received  more 
than  $3.60  a  day  at  home,  while  only  five  per  cent  said  they 
received  more  than  that  rate  for  twelve  hours'  work  there. 
Sixty-seven  per  cent  of  the  453  persons  stating  their  earnings 
here,  earn  less  than  $3  a  day.  Twenty-eight  per  cent  earn  from 
$3  to  $3.60  a  day,  while  only  five  per  cent  earn  more  than 
$3.60  a  day.  The  average  working  day  for  both  Pittsburgh 
and  the  South  is  ten  and  four-tenths  hours.  The  average  wage 
is  $2.85  here;  in  the  South  it  amounted  to  $2.15,  It  may  be 
interesting  to  point  out  that  the  number  of  married  men  who 
work  longer  hours  and  receive  more  money  is  proportionately 
greater  than  that  of  the  single  men,  who  have  not  "  given  hostage 
to  fortune." 

Judging  from  what  has  been  said  about  the  habits  of  living 
among  the  negro  migrants  in  Pittsburgh,  they  are  of  the  best 
class  of  their  race.  Chief  among  those  to  be  mentioned  is  their 
tendency  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  intoxicants  although  it  has 
often  been  said  that  the  cause  of  the  migration  from  the  South 
was  due  to  the  desire  of  negroes  in  prohibition  States  to  go 
where  they  may  make  free  use  of  whisky.  In  this  city  it  was 
observed  that  out  of  470  persons  who  answered  questions  with 
reference  to  whether  or  not  they  imbibed  only  210  of  them 
said  that  they  drank,  while  267  made  no  use  of  intoxicants 
at  all.  It  was  also  observed  that  among  those  who  have  families, 
the  percentage  of  those  addicted  to  drink  is  much  smaller  than 
that  of  others  who  are  single  or  left  their  families  in  the  South. 
This,  no  doubt,  accounts  for  the  orderly  conduct  of  these  negroes 
who,  according  to  statistics,  have  not  experienced  a  wave  of 
crime.  The  records  of  the  courts  show  numerous  small  offenses 
charged  to  the  account  of  negroes,  but  these  usually  result  from 
temptations  and  snares  set  by  institutions  of  vice  which  are 
winked  at  by  the  community. 

These  negroes,  on  the  whole,  are  thrifty  and  will  eventually 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST         125 

attach  themselves  permanently  to  the  community  through  the 
acquisition  of  desirable  property  and  elevation  to  positions  of 
trust  in  the  industries  where  they  are  employed.  Evidences  of 
the  lazy  and  shiftless  and  the  immoral  are  not  frequent,  because 
of  a  sort  of  spirit  of  thrift  pervading  the  whole  group.  Many 
of  the  families  have  savings  accounts  in  banks,  and  practically 
all  of  the  married  men  separated  from  their  families  in  the 
South  send  a  large  portion  of  their  earnings  from  time  to  time. 
Money  order  receipts  and  stubs  of  checks  examined  show  that 
these  remittances  to  distant  families  range  from  between  $5  to 
$10  a  week.  Others  have,  seen  fit  to  divert  their  income  to 
objects  more  enterprising.  They  are  educating  their  children, 
purchasing  homes  and  establishing  businesses  to  minister  to  the 
needs  of  their  own  peculiar  group. 

In  view  of  the  desirability  of  most  migrants  in  this  city, 
several  persons  have  seen  fit  to  make  a  comparison  of  the  negro 
and  foreign  labor,  with  a  view  to  determining  whether  or  not 
the  employment  of  negroes  in  the  North  will  be  permanent,  as 
they  may  easily  be  displaced  by  the  foreigners  immigrating  into 
this  country  in  the  future.  The  consensus  of  opinion  is  that 
the  blacks  are  profitable  laborers,  but  that  their  efficiency  must 
be  decidedly  increased  to  compete  with  that  of  the  white  workers. 
Some  of  the  faults  observed  are  that  they  are  as  yet  unadapted 
to  the  "  heavy  and  pace-set  labor  in  the  steel  mills."  Accustomed 
to  the  comparatively  easy  going  plantation  and  farm  work  of 
the  South,  it  will  take  some  time  for  these  migrants  to  find 
themselves.  "  They  can  not  even  be  persuaded  to  wait  until 
pay  day,  and  they  like  to  get  money  in  advance,  following  the 
habit  that  they  acquired  from  the  southern  credit  system.  It 
is  often  secured  on  very  flimsy  pretexts  and  spent  immediately 
in  the  saloons  and  similar  places."  Yet  the  very  persons  who 
make  this  estimate  of  the  negro  laborer  say  that  the  negroes 
born  in  the  North  or  who  have  been  in  the  North  some  time 
are  as  efficient  as  the  whites,  and  that  because  of  their  knowledge 
of  the  language  and  the  ways  of  this  country,  they  are  often 
much  better  than  the  foreign  laborers  who  understand  neither. 

The  principal  industrial  centers  in  Ohio  to  which  the  migrants 


126  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

went  were  Cincinnati,  Middletown,  Akron,  Dayton,  Springfield, 
Youngstown,  Columbus  and  Cleveland.  The  city  which  took 
the  lead  in  endeavoring  to  handle  the  migration  problem  was 
Cleveland.  This  was  due  to  a  considerable  extent  to  the  fact 
that  the  housing  conditions  in  Cleveland  were  espec.ally  bad. 
Investigations  made  in  the  summer  of  1917  by  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  showed  that  housing  conditions  never  were  so 
in  need  of  remedying  as  they  were  at  that  time.  The  influx 
of  negroes,  thousands  of  whom  were  living  in  box  cars  on 
railway  sidings,  was  only  one  feature  of  the  problem,  investi- 
gators say.  In  nearly  every  part  of  the  city,  and  especially 
in  the  vicinity  of  large  manufacturing  plants,  workers  are  herded 
together,  paying  as  much  as  $8  a  week  for  a  single  room  for 
a  whole  family.^ 

The  Cleveland  Welfare  Federation  appointed  a  committee 
composed  of  representatives  of  both  races,  to  study  problems 
made  acute  in  Cleveland  by  the  recent  incoming  of  probably 
10,000  negroes  from  the  South.  At  the  first  meeting  of  this 
committee,  August  3,  1917,  the  city  welfare  department  an- 
nounced that  61  per  cent  of  the  men  in  the  workhouse  at 
Warrensville  were  negroes  and  that  of  100  women  66  were 
negroes.  The  normal  proportion  of  negroes  in  the  workhouse 
before  the  migration  began  was  about  10  per  cent,  he  said. 
This  had  mounted  rapidly  in  the  last  year.  It  was  brought 
out  that  the  cause  of  this  increase  lay  in  housing  congestion, 
lack  of  opportunities  for  recreation  and  because  negro  migrants 
are  ignorant  of  the  city's  customs,  laws  and  ordinances.  A  sub- 
committee was  therefore  appointed  to  look  into  this  matter, 
as  well  as  into  that  of  perils  surrounding  newly  arrived  negro 
girls.  A  subcommittee  was  also  appointed  to  study  housing 
congestion  and  health  problems.  The  secretary  of  the  Cleveland 
Real  Estate  Board  reiterated  that  there  were  10,000  houses, 
renting  at  $25  and  under,  needed  at  the  present  time  for  both 
negro  and  white  residents,  and  that,  owing  to  labor  difficulties 
and  the  high  price  of  building  materials,  very  little  had  been 
done  to  relieve  the  situation.     He  stated  that  a  partial  solution 

^Cleveland  News,  August  11,  1917. 


THE   SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST         127 

could  be  found  in  inducing  both  negro  and  white  people  who 
could  afford  to  build  or  buy  houses  to  do  so,  and  thus  free  more 
houses  for  those  who  can  not  afford  to  buy  them.  It  was 
asserted  that  unless  something  should  be  done  before  cold  weather 
the  housing  problem  would  become  acute. ^  To  assist  in  meeting 
the  house  shortage  a  group  of  prominent  negroes  organized 
"  The  Realty  Housing  and  Investment  Company."  " 

The  negro  churches  and  other  organizations  cooperated  in 
the  effort  to  solve  the  problem  of  caring  for  the  newly  arrived 
negroes.  In  December,  1917,  all  the  organizations  and  agencies 
working  to  aid  the  migrants  were  united  in  the  Negro  Welfare 
Association  of  Cleveland.^  William  R.  Connors,  a  negro  social 
worker,  was  employed  as  executive  secretary  of  the  new  organi- 
zation, beginning  January  1,  and  offices  were  opened  in  the  Phyl- 
lis Wheatley  Association  Building  at  East  40th  Street  and  Cen- 
tral Avenue.  The  budget  for  the  first  year  was  estimated  at 
about  $5,000. 

The  organization  acted  as  a  clearing  house  for  all  the  problems 
confronting  the  negro  people  there  and  cooperated  with  other 
agencies  in  the  following  activities :  relief  work,  nursing  service, 
legal  aid,  employment,  promoting  thrift,  providing  recreation 
through  the  public  schools  and  otherwise,  studying  the  delin- 
quency problem,  caring  for  discharged  prisoners  in  cooperation 
with  the  workhouse  and  promoting  community  singing.  It  in- 
vestigated the  social  conditions  among  negroes,  with  a  view  to 
establishing  those  agencies  which  are  needed,  or  to  point  out 
the  needs  to  the  organization  already  established.  It  endeavored 
to  educate  the  negro  public  to  a  full  appreciation  of  the  possi- 

1  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer,  August  4,  1917. 

-  An  advertisement  of  this  company  in  the  Cleveland  Advocate  was  as 
follows : 

Cleveland  is  short  10,000  houses : 

The  city  on  Lake  Erie  is  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  "Housing  the 
People!"  We  have  been  on  the  job  day  in  and  day  out  and  are  pleased  to 
announce  that  we   have  just  played  a  master  stroke.  ■ 

You  may  ask  what  is  it?     We  will  answer. 

We  have  just  secured  the  group  of  seven  apartment  houses  which  are 
rapidly  nearing  completion  on  East  40th  Street  between  Central  and  Scoville 
Avenues.  Three  and  four  room  suites  with  bath,  hot  water,  electric  lights, 
gas  ranges,  heating  appliances,  refrigerators,  Murphy  in-a-dor  beds.  Laundry 
just  waiting  to  be  occupied.     All  for  colored  people. 

3  Cleveland  Town  Topics,  December  22,  1917. 


128  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

bilities  of  a  definite  social  program  and  to  its  responsibility  for 
seeing  that  it  is  carried  out. 

In  June,  1916,  a  call  was  issued  for  a  statewide  conference 
of  representative  white  and  colored  people  to  be  held  at  the 
capital  of  the  State,  Columbus,  on  July  12,  1916,  to  take  steps 
toward  caring  for  the  100,000  negro  migrants  believed  to  have 
remained  in  Ohio.  Among  those  who  signed  the  call  were  J. 
Walter  Wills,  President  of  Cleveland  Association  of  Colored 
Men;  Reverend  H.  C.  Bailey,  President  of  National  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People;  W.  S.  Scar- 
borough, President  of  Wilber force  University;  Charles  Johnson, 
Superintendent  of  Champion  Chemical  Company,  Springfield, 
and  Edward  T.  Banks,  member  of  Charter  Commission,  Dayton.^ 
The  mayors  of  Ohio  cities  named  delegates  to  the  conference. 
At  this  conference  the  Ohio  Federation  for  the  Uplift  of  the 
Colored  People  was  formed,  and  an  extensive  program  designed 
to  improve  economic  and  social  conditions  was  outlined. 
Branches  of  the  Federation  were  soon  established  at  Akron, 
Columbus,  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Dayton,  Piqua,  Steubenville, 
Youngstown  and  other  points. 

Reports  showing  labor,  housing,  general  welfare  and  health 
conditions  among  the  negroes  throughout  the  State  were  com- 
piled and  distributed  broadcast.  It  was  also  decided  to  send 
lecturers  through  Ohio  cities  to  visit  negro  centers  for  the 
purpose  of  instilling  within  the  race  a  desire  for  better  living 
conditions.  A  campaign  was  waged  also  to  bring  about  greater 
censorship  of  motion  pictures.  Efforts  were  made  to  have  the 
State  Council  of  National  Defense  and  the  State  and  City  Labor 
Bureaus  actively  interest  themselves  in  the  problem  of  negro 
employment.^ 

The  State  of  Ohio  also  undertook  an  investigation  of  the 
migration  movement.  Reports  to  the  Ohio  branch.  Council 
of  National  Defense,  indicated  a  very  serious  situation  resulting 
from  the  exodus  of  negroes.  An  investigation  at  direction  of 
Governor  Cox  was  conducted  by  the  Council  and  State  Depart- 

"^  Dayton  News,  July  7,  1917. 

-  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  September  12,  1917 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS-  IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST         129 

ment,  to  get  as  much  information  as  possible  concerning  the 
unprecedented  migration.  The  first  work  was  a  study  of  health 
conditions  in  several  cities  by  the  State  Department  of  Health, 
which  took  immediate  steps  to  correct  evils.  The  negroes  who 
were  coming  into  the  State  were  being  crowded  into  the  negro 
sections  of  the  various  cities  in  such  a  way  that  the  health  of 
these  communities  in  many  cases  was  being  seriously  threatened. 
The  Council  of  National  Defense  asked  the  Ohio  branch  for 
information  on  the  migration,  particularly  to  learn  if  it  had 
been  artificially  stimulated  and  accelerated  by  agencies  that  have 
paid  so  many  dollars  a  head  for  every  negro  from  the  South.^ 

Detroit,  because  of  its  importance  as  an  industrial  center, 
was  one  of  the  places  to  which  the  largest  number  of  migrants 
to  Michigan  went.  The  negro  population  of  the  city  in  1910 
was  5,741.  It  is  now  estimated  that  the  city  has  between  25,000 
and  35,000  blacks,  three-fourths  or  more  of  whom  have  come 
there  during  the  past  two  years.  As  elsewhere,  the  majority 
of  the  negroes  are  in  unskilled  occupations.  There  is,  however, 
a  considerable  number  of  skilled  and  semiskilled  workers.  De- 
troit was  formerly  a  city  where  the  negro  was  restricted  to 
a  very  few  lines  of  work. 

The  wartime  pressing  needs  of  the  industrial  enterprises  have 
caused  the  barriers  to  be  removed.  The  available  evidence  that 
Detroit  has  removed  the  barriers  from  the  employment  of  negroes 
in  many  lines  is  considerable.  There  were  calls  for  336  truckers, 
160  molders,  109  machinists,  45  core  makers  and  for  a  number 
of  other  miscellaneous  skilled  and  semiskilled  men.  Most  of 
the  women  were  wanted  in  domestic  and  personal  service  in 
private  homes,  but  32  calls  came  from  a  garment  factory,  18 
from  a  cigar  factory  and  19  for  ushers  in  a  theater. 

Their  wages  were  exceptionally  high  according  to  Dr.  George 
E.  Haynes'  intensive  study  of  the  returns  of  407  families.  One 
received  between  $30  and  $39  a  month;  three  received  between 
$40  and  $49,  six  received  between  $60  and  $69;  20  received 
between  $70  and  $79;  96  received  between  $80  and  $89;  6  re- 
ceived between  $90  and  $99 ;  27  received  between  $100  and  $119; 

1  Columbus  Dispatch,  August  1,  1917. 


130  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

21  received  between  $120  and  $129,  and  4  received  $140  or 
more  a  month.  There  was  a  man  working  at  $G.30  a  day. 
The  number  of  days  they  were  employed  a  month  could  not 
be  ascertained.  There  were  161  men  whose  monthly  wages 
were  doubtful  or  unknown,  two  men  were  the  owners  of  a  busi- 
ness and  five  were  unemployed.  Of  the  45  women  who  were 
the  heads  of  families,  13  were  doing  day's  work  at  $2  a  day 
and  one  at  $2.50  a  day,  but  the  number  of  days  they  were 
employed  could  not  be  ascertained  and  so  the  monthly  wages 
could  not  be  calculated.  There  were  two  women  earning  be- 
tween $40  and  $49  a  month  and  three  earning  between  $70 
and  $79  a  month.  The  monthly  wages  of  26  were  doubtful 
or  unknown.  "  As  far  as  these  figures  are  typical  of  the  wages 
of  negro  workmen  in  Detroit,"  says  Dr.  Haynes,  "  they  show 
that  the  prevailing  wages  of  the  men  are  from  about  $70  to 
$119  a  month;  for,  159  of  the  194  men  whose  wages  were 
ascertained  were  receiving  wages  ranging  between  these  amounts. 
The  prevailing  wage  for  women  is  about  that  of  those  doing 
day  work,  $2  a  day."  ^ 

In  Detroit,  as  in  other  places,  there  is  conflict  of  opinion  as 
to  the  value  of  the  negro  as  a  laborer.  The  survey  of  the 
migrants  there  showed  that  there  were  diverse  views  about  the 
suitability  of  negro  labor.  Mr.  Charles  M.  Culver,  General 
Manager  of  the  Detroit  Employers  Association,  thought  some 
employers  were  highly  pleased  with  negro  workmen  and  some 
were  not.     He  said : 

There  are  two  lines  of  adverse  opinion  about  the  neg-^o  as  a  workman; 
first,  nine-tenths  of  the  complaints  of  employers  are  that  he  is  too  slow. 
He  does  not  make  the  speed  that  the  routine  of  efficient  industry  demands. 
He  is  lacking  in  the  regularity  demanded  by  routine  of  industry  day  by 
day.  Second,  the  negro  has  been  observed  to  be  disinclined  to  work  out- 
of-doors  when  the  cold  weath-er  comes.  Employers  have  discussed  this 
and  have  not  found  the  negro  satisfactory  on  this  point.  Unless  the  negroes 
overcome  this  practice  employers  will  turn  to  other  sources  of  supply  when 
their  present  extreme  needs  are  past.  Employers  must  have  a  labor  supply 
upon  which  they  can  depend  at  all  seasons — laborers  who  will  work  out-of- 
doors  winter  as  well  as  summer. 

1  Haynes,  Survey  of  the  Migrants  in  Detroit. 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST         131 

Speaking  of  the  colored  women  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  garments  by  the  Krolick  Company,  Mr,  Cohen,  the  super- 
intendent, said  his  greatest  difficulty  was  in  overcoming  the 
timidity  of  the  girls  and  in  inducing  them  to  believe  they  can 
become  successful  operators  and  earn  good  wages. 

The  peculiar  situation  caused  by  the  sudden  increase  of  the 
city's  negro  population  was  met  by  organized  efforts  directed, 
in  the  main,  by  the  local  branch  of  the  National  League  on 
Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes,  which  here  also  took  the 
lead  in  helping  the  migrants  adjust  themselves/  Among  the 
important  things  done  by  the  league  were  the  establishing  of  a 
vocational  bureau,  a  bureau  of  investigation  and  information  re- 
garding houses,  and  a  committee  on  recreation ;  the  inaugurating 
of  a  ten  cent  "  newcomers  "  community  dance,  which  was  held 
every  Tuesday  evening  in  a  public  school  in  the  heart  of  the 
negro  district;  the  development  of  athletic  features  for  the  im- 
migrants, and  the  organization  of  a  branch  of  "  Camp  Fire 
Girls."  The  league  induced  one  of  the  largest  foundries  to 
build  low-priced  homes  for  its  negro  employes  near  the  plant. 
It  also  somewhat  relieved  the  housing  problem  by  the  purchase 
of  leases  from  the  proprietresses  of  a  number  of  disorderly 
houses  which  were  closed  by  the  police.  In  each  case  the 
league  persuaded  some  manufacturer  to  take  over  the  lease,  and 
in  this  way  a  large  number  of  negro  families  were  accommo- 
dated. It  also  kept  a  list  of  vacant  houses  and  was  surprised 
to  find  how  many  of  them  were  not  listed  by  commercial  real 
estate  agents. 

The  league  persuaded  the  police  commissioner  to  appoint  a 
special  officer,  selected  by  the  league  especially  for  the  new- 
comers. It  is  his  duty  to  mingle  with  crowds  on  the  streets 
where  the  newcomers  congregate  and  urge  them  not  to  make  a 
nuisance  of  themselves  by  blocking  sidewalks,   boisterous  be- 


1  The  Urban  League  is  maintained  by  the  Associated  Charities  and  private 
individuals  to  study  Detroit's  negro  problem  and  improve  the  condition  of 
the  city's  negroes.  Forrester  B.  Washington  is  director  in  charge  of  the 
league.  The  organization  will  aim  to  direct  negro  sentiment  and  support 
along  lines  of  best  interests  for  Detroit. — Detroit  News,  November  6,  1916. 


132  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

havior  and  the  like.  He  was  also  provided  with  cards  direct- 
ing newcomers  to  the  office  of  the  league  when  in  need  of  em- 
ployment. The  league  itself  kept  a  close  watch  on  the  negro 
underworld  of  Detroit  and  immediately  apprised  the  police  when 
dives  were  developed  especially  to  prey  on  the  immigrant. 

The  Board  of  Commerce  cooperated  in  a  movement  for  the 
investigation  and  improvement  of  working  conditions  of  negro 
employes  in  the  various  manufacturing  plants  in  Detroit.  The 
Board  of  Health  gave  considerable  assistance  in  obtaining  better 
and  more  sanitary  housing  conditions.  The  aid  of  several 
mothers'  clubs  among  the  colored  women  was  enlisted  to  instruct 
immigrant  mothers  in  the  proper  diet  and  clothing  for  children 
in  a  northern  climate.  From  the  outset,  the  aim  was  not  only 
to  put  each  migrant  in  a  decent  home  but  also  to  connect  him 
with  some  church.  Many  times  the  churches  reciprocated  with 
considerable  material  as  well  as  spiritual  assistance. 

Valued  cooperation  was  given  by  the  Young  Negroes'  Progres- 
sive Association,  a  body  of  thirty-four  young  colored  men, 
most  of  whom  attended  the  various  schools  and  colleges  about 
Detroit.  They  have  been  the  finest  possible  agents  in  the  de- 
velopment of  all  the  different  activities.  In  the  adjustment 
of  the  negro,  a  definite  place  must  be  given  to  the  development 
of  industrial  efficiency.  In  pursuance  of  this  object  the  league, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Progressive  Association,  carried  on 
a  movement.^  Representatives  of  the  two  organizations  visit 
the  various  factories  where  large  numbers  of  negroes  are  em- 
ployed and  talk  to  them  during  the  noon  hour  on  the  necessity 
of  creating  the  best  possible  impression  at  the  present  time  so 


1  Two  surveys  of  the  migrants  in  Detroit  were  made.  One  was  under  the 
auspices  of  the  negro  committee  of  the  Home  Missions'  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America  and  was  published  under  the  title,  "  Negro 
Newcomers  in  Detroit."  This  survey  investigated  industrial  opportunities, 
housing  and  recreation  facilities,  and  the  work  which  the  churches  were 
doing  and  should  do  for  Detroit's  newcomers. 

The  Church  Extension  Committee  of  the  Detroit  Presbytery  made  a  survey 
of  the  negro  problem  in  Detroit.  This  survey  showed  that  the  negro  popula- 
tion of  the  city  has  grown  from  5,000  in  1910  to  21,000  in  1917.  The  negro 
churches  of  the  city  are  utterly  inadequate  to  take  care  of  the  religious  needs 
of  the  race  here,  it  was  shown. 


THE   SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    MIDDLE    WEST         133 

that  they  may  be  certain  of  retaining  their  jobs  in  the  future. 
At  the  same  time,  the  speakers  circulate  these  cards : 

WHY   HE  FAILED 

He  watched  the  clock. 
He  was  always  behindhand. 
He  asked  too  many  questions. 
He  wasn't  ready  for  the  next  step. 
He  did  not  put  his  heart  in  his  work. 
He  learned  nothing  from  his  blunders. 
He  was  contented  to  be  a  second-rater. 

He  didn't  learn  that  the  best  part  of  his  salary  was  not  in  his  pay  envelope. 

— Success. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Situation  at  Points  in  the  East 

No  less  conspicuous  as  attractions  to  the  negroes  of  the 
South  were  the  various  industries  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
Although  not  so  closely  connected  with  the  Black  Belt  of  the 
South  as  are  so  many  of  the  industrial  centers  of  the  West, 
Pennsylvania  nevertheless  was  sought  by  many  of  these  migrants 
because  of  the  long  accepted  theory  that  this  commonwealth 
maintains  a  favorable  attitude  toward  persons  of  color.  It  drew 
upon  this  population  too  because  of  the  very  urgent  need  for 
workers  in  its  numerous  industries  during  the  labor  crisis  result- 
ing from  the  falling  ofif  of  the  foreign  immigration.  When, 
moreover,  manufacturing  establishments  of  the  State  multiplied 
as  elsewhere  because  of  the  demand  for  the  manufacture  of 
munitions  of  war,  this  need  became  more  urgent  than  ever. 

According  to  the  census  of  1910,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
had  193,919  inhabitants  of  negro  blood,  84,459  of  whom  lived 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  During  the  recent  rush  to  that 
commonwealth,  however,  investigators  are  now  of  the  opinion 
that  the  negro  population  of  that  State  is  hardly  less  than 
300,000.  These  migrants  were,  of  course,  not  all  settled  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Here  we  see  another  example  of  a 
rerouting  point,  a  place  where  the  migration  broke  bulk,  scat- 
tering itself  into  the  various  industrial  communities  desiring 
labor.  Among  the  other  cities  and  towns  receiving  this  popu- 
lation were  practically  all  of  those  within  a  radius  of  about 
one  hundred  miles  of  Philadelphia,  such  as  Lancaster,  Potts- 
ville,  York,  Altoona,  Harrisburg  and  certain  other  towns  lying 
without  the  State,  as  in  the  case  of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  a 
site  of  a  large  munitions  plant.  In  some  cases  the  negro  pop- 
ulation in  these  towns  increased  more  than  100  per  cent  in  a  few 

days. 

134 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    EAST  135 

The  chief  factors  in  the  bringing  in  af  these  negroes  from 
the  South  were  the  leading  railroads  like  the  Erie  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. During  the  shortage  of  labor,  these  corporations  found 
it  impossible  to  keep  their  systems  in  repair.  In  this  situation, 
they,  like  the  smaller  concerns  further  west,  sent  labor  agents 
to  the  South  to  induce  negroes  to  supply  this  demand.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  so  many  of  the  negroes  who  had  their 
transportation  paid  by  these  firms  counted  it  more  profitable  to 
leave  their  employ  immediately  after  arriving,  because  of  the 
unusually  high  wages  offered  by  smaller  industries  in  just  as 
urgent  need  of  labor.  Instead  of  supplying  their  own  de- 
mand, therefore,  the  railroads  were  benefiting  their  neigh- 
bors. 

A  better  idea  as  to  the  extent  of  the  congestion  made  possible 
by  this  influx  of  newcomers  may  be  obtained  from  the  comments 
of  observers  in  that  section.  Traveling  men  tell  us  of  the 
crowded  houses  and  congested  streets  which  marked  the  places 
wherever  these  migrants  stopped.  Housing  facilities  being  in- 
adequate, temporary  structures  were  quickly  built  and  when 
these  did  not  suffice,  in  the  case  of  railroads,  ordinary  tents 
and  box  cars  were  used  to  shelter  the  new  laborers.  Owing 
to  these  unsatisfactory  conditions  and  the  inability  of  employers 
to  ameliorate  them,  the  migration  was  to  some  extent  discour- 
aged, and  in  a  few  cases  a  number  of  the  migrants  returned 
to  their  homes  in  the  South,  so  that  the  number  that  actually 
came  into  the  State  is  much  less  than  it  would  have  been,  had 
it  been  possible  to  receive  and  adequately  accommodate  the 
negroes  in  their  new  homes. 

In  Philadelphia  the  situation  at  first  became  unusually  critical. 
Being  closer  to  the  Southland  than  most  of  the  large  cities 
of  the  country,  the  people  of  Philadelphia  are  much  more  preju- 
diced against  the  negro  than  those  in  some  other  northern  cities. 
It  was  necessary,  therefore,  upon  their  arrival  in  that  city  for 
them  to  crowd  into  the  district  largely  restricted  to  negroes, 
giving  rise  to  such  unhappy  conditions  as  to  jeopardize  the  peace 
and  health  of  the  community.  Numbers  of  these  migrants  died 
from   exposure  during  the  first  winter,   and   others  who   died 


136  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

because  of  their  inability  to  stand  the  northern  climate  made 
the  situation  seem  unusually  alarming.  It  was  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  organize  social  workers  to  minister  to  the  peculiar  needs 
of  these  newcomers.  Appeals  were  made  in  their  behalf  and  a 
number  of  prominent  citizens  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  urge 
them  to  remain  in  the  South. 

The  solution  of  this  problem  was  rendered  a  little  more 
difficult  for  the  reason  that  here,  as  in  many  other  centers  in 
the  North,  the  newcomers  were  not  welcomed  by  their  own 
race.  Philadelphia  had  for  years  been  pointed  to  as  having  a 
respectable,  thrifty  and  prosperous  colored  population,  enjoying 
the  good  will  and  the  cooperation  of  the  best  white  people  in 
the  community.  These  northern  negroes  felt  then  that  the  com- 
ing of  their  brethren  in  the  rough  did  them  a  decided  injury 
in  giving  rise  to  a  race  problem  in  a  northern  community  where 
it  had  not  before  figured.  This  unusual  influx  of  other  members 
of  the  race  greatly  stimulated  that  tendency  to  segregate  negro 
children  in  the  schools,  to  the  deep  regret  of  the  older  citizens 
of  Philadelphia.  Other  social  privileges  as  in  theaters,  churches 
and  the  like,  formerly  allowed  the  negro  citizens  of  that  city, 
tended  gradually  to  be  withdrawn. 

The  negro  migrants  were  not  altogether  innocent.  Many 
of  them  used  their  liberty  in  their  northern  home  as  a  stum- 
bling block.  Receiving  there  such  high  wages  which  they  could 
not  judiciously  spend,  the  unwise  of  their  group  used  this  un- 
usually large  income  to  their  own  detriment  and  to  that  of  the 
community.  It  was  indeed  difficult  to  restrain  a  poor  man 
who  never  had  had  a  few  dollars,  when  just  arrived  from  a 
section  of  the  country  where  he  had  not  only  been  poor  but 
restricted  even  in  expending  what  income  he  received.  Many 
of  them  received  $6,  $7  and  in  a  few  cases  $8  to  $10  a  day. 
They  frequented  saloons  and  dens  of  vice,  thereby  increas- 
ing the  number  of  police  court  cases  and  greatly  staining  the 
record  of  the  negroes  in  that  city.  A  number  of  fracases,  there- 
fore, broke  out  from  time  to  time,  growing  in  intensity  in 
keeping  with  the  condition  to  which  the  community,  unaccus- 
tomed to  negro  neighbors,  saw  fit  to  manifest  its  displeasure. 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    EAST  137 

This  finally  culminated  in  the  recent  riots  in  Philadelphia  in 
which  a  number  of  blacks  and  whites  were  killed. 

Feeling  that  they  did  not  have  the  support  of  the  officers 
of  the  law,  the  negroes  of  the  city  organized  a  Colored  Pro- 
tective Association  and  raised  a  fund  for  the  prosecution  of 
policemen  and  others  who  might  aid  mobs.  The  method  of 
strengthening  itself  is  to  organize  the  churches  of  the  city  with 
a  view  to  securing  the  cooperation  of  every  negro  there.  To 
advance  this  work,  a  large  sum  has  been  raised.  Other  efforts 
of  this  sort  in  behalf  of  the  negroes  in  Philadelphia  have  been 
made  by  the  National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Colored  People  and  the  Armstrong  Association  in  cooperation 
with  the  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes. 

Social  workers  in  general  soon  found  it  necessary  to  address 
themselves  to  the  task  of  readjusting  these  migrants.^  The 
Philadelphia  Academy  of  Medicine,  composed  of  negro  physi- 
cians, dentists  and  druggists,  put  into  effect  measures  calculated 
to  meet  requirements  for  housing,  sanitation,  medical  attention 
and  education.  Systematic  medical  inspections  were  given,  and 
projects  for  the  erection  of  houses  and  the  adaptation  of  ex- 
isting buildings  for  lodgings  are  under  way.  Eighty  negro 
physicians  of  the  city  collected  information  which  took  the 
form  of  a  weekly  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Health.  Real  estate 
dealers  were  asked  to  submit  lists  of  every  house  immediately., 
available  for  the  relief  of  the  overcrowded  buildings  then  occu- 
pied by  the  negroes  and  to  provide  hundreds  of  new  ones,  cheaply 
but  substantially  constructed.  Stereopticon  lectures  and  talks 
were  given  on  an  increasing  scale  in  all  the  negro  churches 
telling  the  new  arrivals  how  to  care  for  themselves  in  the  Phil- 
adelphia climate,  how  to  avoid  colds,  which  lead  to  pneumonia 
and  tuberculosis,  the  two  most  common  diseases  among  them, 
and  other  useful  information  in  general. 

The  Interdenominational  Ministerial  Union  of  Philadelphia, 
embracing  all  the  negro  ministers  of  the  city,  drew  up  certain 
resolutions  setting  forth  their  views  relative  to  the  migration 
and  making  some  suggestions  concerning  the  situation  in  Phila- 

^The  Philadelphia  North  American,  February  2,  1917. 


138  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

delphia.  They  pledged  themselves  to  look  after  the  comfort 
of  the  migrants  in  every  way  possible,  urged  them  to  join  the 
churches  and  other  organizations  for  improvement,  and  send 
their  children  to  the  schools,  and  to  utilize  the  libraries,  night 
schools  and  other  agencies  of  culture  which  were  denied  them 
in  the  South.  These  ministers  urged  them  also  to  work  regu- 
larly, and  give  their  best  services  to  their  employers  regardless 
of  pay,  remembering  always  that  the  race  is  on  trial  in  them ; 
that  they  save  their  money,  and  purchase  homes  and  become 
a  part  of  the  substantial  citizenry  as  soon  as  possible.^ 

A  Negro  Migration  Committee  was  formxcd,  composed  of 
eight  workers  from  social  agencies  and  charitable  societies,  to 
provide  suitable  housing  for  negro  families  arriving  in  this  city 
and  to  aid  them  in  getting  work.  Each  member  of  the  com- 
mittee is  to  work  through  the  organization  he  represents  and 
be  responsible  for  one  specific  phase  of  the  problem." 

Notwithstanding  the  efforts  that  were  made  to  improve  the 
housing  conditions,  the  situation  in  this  respect  continued  to 
grow  worse.  In  December  of  1917,  representatives  of  the  vari- 
ous social  agencies  and  of  the  corporations  employing  large 
numbers  of  negroes  met  in  a  conference  on  the  housing  situation. 
"  All  the  questions  involved  in  the  reasons  for  the  colored  people 
coming  north  and  the  problem  of  housing  and  caring  for  them 
were  seriously  discussed." 

Some  representatives  of  the  corporations  asserted  that  the  men  were  not 
reliable  and  dependable,  going  from  place  to  place  and  only  working  a  few 
days  in  each  week.  The  social  service  workers  stated  that  the  reason  for 
this  is  that  there  are  not  a  sufficient  number  of  houses  in  which  to  take  care 
of  the  men  and  their  families,  and  that  the  districts  in  which  they  lived 
were  shamefully  crowded.  According  to  these  workers  the  only  way  in  which 
the  men  can  be  made  satisfied  is  by  providing  more  homes  for  them  in  sanitary 
and  wholesome  quarters.  After  thoroughly  considering  the  problem  a  per- 
manent committee  was  appointed  to  deal  with  the  problem  in  all  its  aspects.^ 

One  of  the  most  effective  agencies  for  dealing  with  the  situa- 
tion created  by  thousands  of  negroes  migrating  north  was  the 

1  Resolutions  of  the  Interdenominational  Union. 

2  Philadelphia  Inquirer,  March  2,  1917. 

3  The  Living  Church,  December  22,  1917. 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    EAST  139 

Armstrong  Association.  This  association  gave  special  atten- 
tion to  stabilizing  negro  labor  and  to  improving  the  housing 
conditions.  The  association  brought  before  several  corporations 
conditions  of  housing  and  recreation  which  would  enable  them 
to  retain  their  workers.  They  provided  a  negro  welfare  worker 
for  the  American  International  Shipbuilding  Company,  to  attend 
to  the  stabilizing  of  negro  labor.  The  association  is  perfecting 
plans  for  better  housing  of  negro  workers  and  the  providing 
of  recreation  centers,  such  as  are  now  enjoyed  in  virtually  every 
city  by  the  white  workers.  The  association  obtained  the  coopera- 
tion of  a  number  of  large  industrial  firms  and  corporations  in 
this  city,  to  aid  it  in  the  employment  of  competent  negro  welfare 
workers  to  help  adjust  existing  conditions,  making  for  greater 
efficiency  and  reliability  among  the  negro  race. 

The  demand  for  labor  by  the  many  industrial  plants  located 
in  New  Jersey  caused  that  State  to  get  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  negro  migrants  and  as  a  result  to  have,  in  acute  form, 
the  problem  of  housing  conditions  and  the  other  problems  in- 
cident to  a  large  number  of  migrants  being  within  her  borders. 
To  assist  in  caring  for  the  situation  a  Negro  Welfare  League 
was  organized  with  branches  at  various  points  in  the  State. 

Writing  on  the  situation  in  New  Jersey,  a  contributor  of  The 
Survey,  for  February  17,  1917,  states : 

The  native  negro  residents  of  the  city  and  suburban  towns  have  been  kind 
and  generous  in  helping  the  southern  stranger.  They  have  collected  money 
to  send  numbers  back  home,  and  when  the  bitter  cold  weather  began  they 
collected  and  distributed  thousands  of  garments.  Resident  negroes  have  also 
taken  hundreds  of  newcomers  into  their  own  homes  until  rooms  could  be 
found  for  them.  But,  while  different  churches  and  kind  hearted  people 
had  been  most  active  in  helping  individually,  there  was  no  concerted  move- 
ment to  bring  all  these  forces  together  until  the  organization  of  the  Negro 
Welfare  League  of  New  Jersey.  Industries  of  New  Jersey  have  utterly 
failed  to  provide  the  housing  which  would  enable  their  negro  help  to  live 
decently  and  in  enough  comfort  so  that  while  growing  accustomed  to  their 
unusual  work,  they  might  be  stimulated  to  become  useful  and  efficient. 

In  the  last  two  weeks  the  Negro  Welfare  Committee,  with  the  help  of 
an  investigation  of  120  self-supporting  families,  all  of  whom  were  found 
in  the  worst  sections  of  the  city,  showed  that  166  adults — only  twenty  of 
whom  are  over  forty  years  of  age — and  134  children,  a  total  of  300  souls, 
are   all    crowded   into    insanitary    dark   quarters,    averaging    four    and    two- 


140  NEGRO    MIGRATION   DURING   THE    WAR 

sevenths  persons  to  a  room.  These  fifty-three  families  paid  a  total  rent 
per  month  of  $415.50,  an  average  of  $7.66.  The  average  wage  of  these 
people  is  $2.60  a  day.  In  not  one  of  the  120  families  was  there  a  wage  earner 
making  the  maximum  wage  of  $3  and  $4  a  day.  Some  of  the  reports  in 
brief  were:  "Wife  and  children  living  over  a  stable.  Hus-band  earning  $11 
a  week."  Three  families  in  four  rooms,  "  a  little  house  not  fit  for  a  chicken 
coop."  "  A  sorry  looking  house  for  so  much  money,  $15  a  month ;  doors 
off  the  hinges,  water  in  the  cellar,  two  families  in  five  rooms."  "  Indescrib- 
able;  so  dark  they  must  keep  the  light  burning  all  day."  "This  family  lives 
in  three  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  a  rickety  frame  house,  built  on  the 
side  of  a  hill,  so  that  the  back  rooms  are  just  above  the  ground.  The  entrance 
is  in  a  muddy,  disorderly  yard  and  is  through  a  tunnel  in  the  house.  The 
rooms  are  hard  to  heat  because  of  cracks.  A  boy  of  eighteen  was  in  bed 
breathing  heavily,  very  ill  with  pneumonia,  delirious  at  times."  Unused  to 
city  life,  crowded  into  dark  rooms,  their  clothing  and  household  utensils 
unsuitable,  the  stoves  they  have  brought  being  all  too  small  to  heat  even  the 
tiny  rooms  they  have  procured  (the  instalment  houses  are  charging  from 
$20  to  $30  for  these  stoves),  shivering  with  the  cold  from  which  they  do 
not  know  how  to  protect  themselves,  it  is  small  wonder  that  illness  has 
overtaken  large  numbers.^ 

Newark,  New  Jersey,  was  one  of  the  places  to  which  the 
migrants  first  came  in  large  numbers.  William  H.  Maxwell, 
President  of  the  Negro  Forward  Movement,  of  that  city,  issued 
an  appeal  for  the  protection  from  the  unscrupulous  of  southern 
negroes  migrating  to  Newark.  He  declared  that  they  were  being 
made  to  work  for  lower  wages  than  they  had  been  promised 
and  that  storekeepers  and  dealers  were  charging  them  high 
prices  for  worthless  goods.  The  Newark  Presbytery  took  up 
the  matter  of  proper  housing  and  clothing  of  the  migrants  who 
were  unaccustomed  to  the  rigors  of  a  northern  climate. 

On  September  23,  1917,  a  State  conference  of  negroes  was 
held  in  Newark  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  cooperate  with 
the  State  authorities  in  looking  after  the  welfare  of  migrants. 
Soon  after  this  conference,  it  was  decided  to  establish  a  State 
bureau,  "  for  the  welfare  and  employment  of  the  colored  citi- 
zens in  the  State  and  particularly  to  look  after  the  housing, 
employment  and  education  of  the  citizens  migrating  from  the 
South."  On  October  12,  Governor  Edge  had  a  number  of 
social  workers  among  the  negroes  to  meet  him,  "  to  discuss  the 
several   perplexing  and  grave   economic,   industrial   and   social 

^  Cotton  Pickers  in  Northern  Cities,  Tlie  Survey,  February  17,  1917. 


THE    SITUATION    AT    POINTS    IN    THE    EAST  141 

problems  arising  from  the  steady  influx  of  the  negro  migrants 
from  the  South."  The  conference  was  held  in  the  Assembly 
room  at  the  State  House.  Col.  Lewis  T.  Bryant,  Commissioner 
of  Labor,  presided.  After  many  reports  and  discussions  of 
work  accomplished  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  the  body  voted 
to  accept  the  proposed  Negro  Welfare  Bureau,  under  the  De- 
partment of  Labor.  A  fund  of  $7,500  is  available  for  the  com- 
ing year's  maintenance  and  work.  The  scope  of  this  bureau's 
work  was  employment,  housing,  social  welfare  and  readjustment, 
education  and  legal  fairness.  This  bureau  acted  as  a  welfare 
clearing  house  for  all  social  agencies  working  for  the  betterment 
of  the  colored  people. 

At  the  next  session  of  the  legislature,  a  bill  was  passed, 
February,  1918,  establishing  in  the  Department  of  Labor  the 
Negro  Welfare  Employment  Bureau.  According  to  a  report 
of  the  work  of  the  Negro  Welfare  Bureau  made  public  in  April, 
1918,  considerable  progress  in  the  work  of  improving  both  the 
migrating  negroes  to  New  Jersey  from  the  South  as  well  as  the 
members  of  the  race  generally  who  have  been  in  this  State  for 
some  time  has  been  made.  With  the  possible  exception  of  Salem 
and  Hudson  counties,  the  sheriffs  of  the  State  report  no  in- 
crease of  criminality  from  the  migration  of  negroes  from  the 
South.  At  Pennsgrove  in  Salem  county,  where  the  Du  Pont 
powder  plants  are  located,  Sheriff  William  T.  Eiffin  reports 
that  considering  the  increase  in  population  there  has  been  an 
increase  in  crime  in  that  county,  but  that  the  situation  is  well 
in  hand  and  diminishing  to  normal.^ 

Hartford  was  one  of  the  industrial  centers  to  which  large 
numbers  of  the  migrating  negroes  went.  The  housing  problem 
became  acute  and  the  chief  efforts  of  those  endeavoring  to 
better  the  conditions  of  migrants  was  along  this  line.  Religious, 
civic  and  commercial  bodies  gave  attention  to  the  amelioration 
of  this  problem.^  The  problem  of  housing  negroes  who  were 
coming  in  greater  numbers  each  year  to  Hartford  was  taken 
up  briefly  by  speakers  at  the  128th  annual  meeting  of  the  Hart- 

^The  Courier  (Camden,  N.  J.),  April  30,  1918. 
2  The  Hartford  Courant,  September  19,  1917. 


142  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

ford  Baptist  Association  at  the  Shiloh  Baptist  Church.  It  was 
decided  to  bring  the  housing  problem  before  the  attention  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which,  it  was  said,  some  time  before 
had  appointed  a  committee  to  investigate  it.  Negroes  complained 
that  they  were  obliged  to  pay  higher  rent  than  white  folks  and 
that  they  were  obliged  by  landlords  to  live  together  in  cramped 
quarters  that  were,  by  reason  of  the  crowding,  insanitary.  They 
said  also  that  the  living  of  several  families  almost  as  one  family 
leads  to  a  breaking  down  of  the  moral  and  religious  ideals.^ 
Conditions  in  Hartford  resulting  from  the  bringing  of  more 
than  2,500  negroes  from  the  South  were  discussed  at  the  fall 
meeting  of  the  Confidential  Exchange  with  a  view  to  preparing 
for  these  new  arrivals. 

At  the  June,  1917,  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
a  committee  was  appointed  from  that  body  to  investigate  hous- 
ing conditions  and  to  cooperate  with  other  agencies  in  improv- 
ing them.  The  committee  met  frequently  through  the  summer 
with  the  housing  committee  of  the  Civic  Club,  in  an  endeavor 
to  ascertain  the  facts  bearing  upon  the  present  situation.  It 
had  before  it  leading  colored  citizens,  ministers,  business  men 
and  industrial  workers,  some  of  whom  have  lived  here  for  years 
and  others  who  have  recently  arrived  from  the  South.  It' was 
discovered  that  there  was,  at  that  time,  plenty  of  work  and  at 
good  wages,  but  the  universal  complaint  was  the  lack  of  homes 
suitable  for  proper  living  and  the  extortionate  prices  asked  for 
rents.  Negroes  in  Hartford  were  suffering  from  the  cupidity 
of  landlords.  They  were  obliged  to  live  in  poor  tenements 
and  under  unhealthful  conditions  because  accommodations  of 
another  class  were  withheld  from  them.  For  such  inferior 
accommodations  they  were  charged  outrageous  rents,  because 
selfish  property  owners  knowing  that  negroes  must  live  charged 
all  the  traffic  would  bear.  Partial  relief  was  obtained  from  the 
immediate  need  by  the  purchase  of  buildings  already  erected, 
and  homes  for  them  were  later  built.  It  appeared  that  for 
the  first  time  in  many  years  Hartford  had  a  race  problem  on 
its  hands. 

1  The  Hartford  Post,  October  9,  1917. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
Remedies  for  Relief  by  National  Organizations 

The  sudden  influx  of  thousands  of  negro  workers  to  northern 
industrial  centers  created  and  intensified  problems.  More  com- 
prehensive and  definite  plans  for  aiding  the  migrants  were, 
therefore,  worked  out  and  more  effective  methods  of  help  insti- 
tuted during  1917.  A  conference  on  negro  migration  was  held 
in  New  York  City  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  League 
on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes,  January  29-31,  1918. 
Among  those  attending  the  conference  were  representatives  of 
capital,  of  labor,  of  housing  conditions,  the  Immigration  Bu- 
reau of  Social  Uplift  Work  for  Negroes  and  others.  The 
subjects  considered  were  causes  and  consequences  of  the  migra- 
tion, present  conditions  of  those  migrating  and  what  is  to  be 
done  to  aid  in  the  negroes'  adjustment  to  their  new  environ- 
ment. 

The  conference  was  of  the  impression  that  negroes,  then 
migrating  to  the  North  in  unprecedented  numbers,  were  pre- 
paring to  come  in  larger  numbers  in  the  spring.  It,  therefore, 
recommended  that  wherever  possible,  whether  in  the  city  or 
rural  community,  organizations  be  formed  to  foster  good  feeling 
between  the  two  races,  to  study  the  health,  school  and  work 
needs  of  the  negro  population,  to  develop  agencies  and  stimu- 
late activities  to  meet  those  needs,  by  training  and  health  pro- 
tection to  increase  the  industrial  efficiency  of  negroes  and  to 
encourage  a  fairer  attitude  toward  negro  labor,  especially  in 
regard  to  hours,  conditions  and  regularity  of  work  and  stand- 
ard of  wages,  and  to  increase  the  respect  for  law  and  the  orderly 
administration  of  justice.  It  further  recommended  that  similar 
organizations  be  formed  or  existing  organizations  urged  to  take 
action  which,   in  addition  to  the  purposes  already  mentioned. 

143 


144  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

should  seek  to  instruct  the  negro  migrants  as  to  the  dress,  habits 
and  methods  of  living  necessary  to  withstand  the  rigors  of  the 
northern  climate;  as  to  efficiency,  regularity  and  application  de- 
manded of  workers  in  the  North;  as  to  the  danger  of  dealing 
or  going  with  unscrupulous  or  vicious  persons  and  of  frequent- 
ing questionable  resorts;  as  to  the  opportunities  offered  by  the 
towns  and  cities  of  the  North  in  schools,  hospitals,  police  pro- 
tection and  employment,  and  as  to  facilities  offered  by  the 
church,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  other  organizations. 

The  various  religious  denominations  among  negroes  were 
profoundly  affected  by  the  migration  movement.  The  sudden 
moving  of  thousands  of  communicants  from  one  section  of  the 
country  to  the  other  caused  many  churches  in  the  South  to 
become  disorganized  and  in  some  instances  to  be  broken  up. 
In  the  North  the  facilities  of  particular  denominations  were  in- 
adequate to  accommodate  the  new  communicants  who  would  wor- 
ship in  the  church  of  their  particular  faith.  In  some  instances, 
it  was  necessary  to  hold  double  services  in  order  that  all  who 
wished  to  attend  the  services  might  be  accommodated.  A  writer 
in  the  Southwestern  Christian  Advocate,  the  organ  of  the  negro 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  said :  "  The  move- 
ment of  the  negroes  by  the  thousands  from  the  South  to  the 
North  raises  a  many  sided  question.  The  missionary  view  is 
the  logical  view  for  the  church,  and  that  side  of  the  question 
falls  logically  upon  her  hands  for  solution."  ^ 

The  Boards  of  Missions  of  white  denominations  carrying 
on  work  among  negroes  made  studies  of  the  migration  move- 
ment. Dr.  Gilbert  N.  Brink,  Secretary  for  Education  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  issued  a  pamphlet 
on  "  Negro  Migration,  What  does  it  Mean?  "  -  "  The  Invasion 
from  Dixie  "  was  the  title  of  a  circular  issued  on  the  migration 
by  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  and  Church  Extension  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In  this  circular  two  questions 
were  asked  with  reference  to  the  migrants.  "  What  are  you 
going  to  do   for  them?"  and  "How  may  we  best  serve  this 

1  Southwestern  Christian  Advocate,  New  Orleans,  La. 

2  Ibid. 


REMEDIES    FOR    RELIEF    BY    NATIONAL    ORGANIZATIONS       145 

most  pressing  need  of  the  present  time?  "     The  circular  further 
said : 


The  problem  as  seen  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  is  twofold.  First,  somehow  to  conserve  the  work  we  have  already 
done  in  the  South  where  the  migration  is  leaving.  Second,  to  provide 
rehgious  opportunities  for  those  people  who  have  come  from  our  own 
churches  of  the  South  as  well  as  those  unreached  by  church  influences, 
so  that  at  the  beginning  of  their  new  life  in  the  North  they  may  all  have 
the  influence  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  to  shape  and  mold  their  future. 

The  Home  Missions  Council,  which  is  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  boards  doing  missionary  work  in  the  United 
States,  through  its  committee  on  negro  work  had  a  survey 
made  of  the  migrants  in  Detroit.  The  results  of  this  survey 
were  published  under  the  title  "  Negro  Newcomers  in  Detroit." 
Detroit  was  selected  because  of  the  large  numbers  of  negroes, 
who  had  been  attracted  to  that  city,  and  also  because  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  conditions  in  Detroit,  although  changing,  were 
sufficiently  typical  of  other  northern  industrial  centers  as  to 
give  a  fairly  accurate  understanding  of  this  modern  phase  of 
the  negro  problem,  which  might  have  acute  and  serious  aspects 
if  not  speedily  cared  for  by  an  enlightened  judgment,  and  the 
quickened  conscience  of  the  Christian  church. 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  through  its  annual 
conferences,  its  Bishops'  Council  and  its  Missionary  Depart- 
ment, undertook  to  meet  the  migration  situation  as  it  affected 
and  imposed  duties  on  that  denomination.  The  Bishops'  Coun- 
cil recommended  to  all  the  departments  of  the  church  that,  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  church  as  to  the  expenditure  of  money 
in  the  home  field  of  the  North  and  Northwest  for  the  benefit 
of  "  our  migrating  people,"  that  they  should  do  the  best  they 
could,  "  in  assisting  in  the  establishment  of  missions  and  church 
houses  for  our  beloved  people,  consistent  with  their  obligations 
already  provided  for  by  law  and  by  the  action  of  the  Missionary 
Board."  ^  A  circular  containing  the  following  questions  was 
sent  out  to  the  A.  M.  E.  churches  throughout  the  North. 

1  Report  of  Bishop's  Council,  A.M.E.  Church,  1917. 


146  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

How  many  persons,  to  your  knowledge,  have  come  from  the  South  into 

your  vicinity  during  the  past  year? 
In  what  sections  of  your  city  are  they  located? 
To  what  extent  are  they  African  Methodists? 
From  what  section  of  the  South  have  they  come? 
What  reasons  do  they  give  for  coming  to  the  North? 
To  what  extent  have  they  found  employment?     At  what,  and  what  is  the 

average  wage  paid? 
Have  you  a  Lookout  Committee  in  your  church  to  seek  these  people?    If 

not,  what  organized  effort  is  being  put  forth  to  church  them? 
Has  any   special  mission  work  been  started  among  or   for  our  southern 

brethren,  in  your  vicinity?    If  so,  what  and  where? 
What  number  of  people   from  the  South  have  united  with  your  church 

during  the  past  year? 
How  do  they  affiliate  with  your  people? 
What  is  the  attitude  of  your  members  toward  them? 
So  far  as  you  have  seen,  is  the  better  plan,  where  the  numbers  warrant 

it,  to   establish   a   distinct  mission   for   them   or  bring  them  into  the 

already  established  churches? 

Bishop  R.  A.  Carter,  of  the  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  after  an  extended  trip  north  in  the  interest  of  the 
work  of  his  denomination  for  the  migrants,  published  in  the 
official  organ  of  his  church  a  description  of  the  situation  as 
he  found  it,  and  what  the  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
should  do  to  assist  in  meeting  the  needs  of  the  situation.  He 
said : 

I  have  just  returned  from  an  extended  trip  through  the  great  Northwest, 
having  visited  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  Gary,  Milwaukee,  Detroit,  Cleveland, 
Pittsburgh,  Clarksburg  and  West  Virginia  .  .  .  Heretofore  the  few  church 
houses  in  those  cities  have  been  sufficient  for  the  colored  people  who  were 
there.  Since  the  migration  of  our  people  in  such  great  numbers,  the  church 
facilities  are  alarmingly  inadequate.  It  is  necessary  to  hold  two  services  at 
the  same  time  in  many  churches  and  then  hundreds  are  turned  away  for 
lack  of  room.  It  is  pathetic  to  have  to  tell  people  who  attend  one  service 
not  to  return  to  the  next  so  that  a  new  crowd  may  be  accommodated.  Yet 
that  is  just  what  must  be  done  in  many  instances  up  that  way  now.  There 
must  be  more  churches  established  in  all  the  large  cities  of  the  North  and 
East  and  Northwest  for  our  people  or  serious  results  will  obtain  in  the 
future. 

He  considered  the  opportunity  and  duty  of  the  C.  M.  E. 
Church  as  great  and  urgent.  He  recommended  the  purchase 
of  vacant  white  churches  offered  for  sale  and  the  transfer  of 


REMEDIES    FOR    RELIEF    BY    NATIONAL   ORGANIZATIONS      147 

some  of  the  best  pastors.  He  urged  that  there  be  launched 
a  movement  for  a  great  centenary  rally  for  $500,000  with 
which  to  take  advantage  of  the  great  opportunity  which  con- 
fronted the  race  in  the  North. 

Before  the  migration  movement  the  strength  of  the  negroes 
in  labor  unions  was  largely  in  the  South.  In  this  section  they 
were  found  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  carpenters,  brick- 
layers, plasterers,  longshoremen  and  miners  unions.  In  the 
North,  however,  they  were  not  generally  connected  with  the 
unions  mainly  for  the  reason  that,  excepting  the  hod  carriers, 
teamsters,  asphalt  and  cement  workers  and  a  few  other  organi- 
zations of  unskilled  laborers,  they  were  not  found  in  any  occu- 
pation in  sufficient  numbers  to  necessitate  being  seriously  con- 
sidered by  organized  labor.  The  necessities  of  the  industrial 
situation  created  by  the  war,  however,  brought  thousands  of 
negroes  north  and  into  trades  and  occupations  in  which  hitherto 
they  had  not  been  found  at  all  or  only  in  negligible  numbers. 
A  change  in  attitude,  therefore,  was  necessary.  At  the  1910 
annual  meeting  of  the  National  Council  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  a  resolution  was  unanimously  passed  inviting 
negroes  and  all  other  races  into  the  Labor  Federation.  The 
officers  of  the  Federation  were  instructed  to  take  measures 
to  see  that  negro  workmen  as  well  as  workmen  of  other  races 
be  brought  into  the  union.  In  1913  this  action  was  reaffirmed 
with  the  assertion  that 

Many  years  ago  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  declared  for  the 
thorough  organization  of  all  working  people  without  regard  to  sex,  religion, 
race,  politics  or  nationality ;  that  many  organizations  affiliated  with  the  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor  have  within  their  membership  negro  workmen  with 
all  other  workers  of  their  trade,  and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  has 
made  and  is  making  every  effort  within  its  power  for  the  organization  of 
these  workmen.! 

At  its  1916  annual  convention  held  in  November  at  Balti- 
more, the  American  Federation  of  Labor  considered  the  ques- 
tion of  negro  migration.     The  question  was  brought  formally 

1  Report  of  Proceedings,  American  Federation  of  Labor,  annual  session, 
1913. 


148  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

before  the  convention  by  the  Ohio  State  Federation  of  Labor 
and  the  Cleveland  Federation  of  Labor  reciting  that:  "The 
investigation  of  such  emigration  and  importation  of  negroes  in 
the  State  of  Ohio  had  demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of  labor 
leaders  in  that  State  that  they  were  being  brought  north  for 
the  purpose  of  fiHing  the  places  of  union  men  demanding  better 
conditions,  as  in  the  case  of  freight  handlers."  Believing  that 
"  the  conditions  that  prevailed  in  Ohio  might  apply  in  all  north- 
ern States,"  the  president  and  Executive  Council  of  the  Fed- 
eration were  instructed  to  begin  a  movement  looking  towards 
the  organization  of  negroes  in  the  southern  States."  ^ 

At  the  1917  convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
held  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  the  question  of  negro  labor  was 
again  considered.  It  was  observed  that  the  colored  laborers 
and  helpers  throughout  the  southeastern  district  were  not  as 
familiar  with  the  labor  movement  as  they  should  be,  especially 
upon  the  different  railroads  of  the  southeastern  territory;  and 
that  there  were  fifteen  different  railroads  in  the  district  for 
which  there  were  only  four  colored  locals.  Feeling  that  a  negro 
organizer,  because  of  his  racial  and  social  relations  among  his 
people,  could  accomplish  much  in  organizing  the  forces  into 
unions,  the  National  Convention  appointed  a  negro  railroad 
man  as  organizer  for  the  territory  as  above  mentioned.  An- 
other set  of  resolutions,  relating  to  the  general  condition  of 
negroes  in  the  United  States,  making  suggestions  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  the  American  people  and  the  national  govern- 
ment in  an  endeavor  to  have  the  nations  participating  in  the 
coming  world  peace  conference  agree  upon  a  plan  to  turn 
over  the  African  continent  or  parts  thereof  to  the  African  race 
and  those  descendants  of  said  race  who  live  in  America  and 
desire  to  return  to  Africa,  and  thus  enable  the  black  race  to 
work  out  its  own  destiny  on  an  equality  with  other  peoples 
of  the  earth,  was  referred  to  a  committee.  The  report  was, 
"  Your  committee  can  not  be  responsible  for  and  rejects  the 
statements  contained  in  the  resolution,  but,  inasmuch  as  por- 

1  Report  of  Proceedings,  American  Federation  of  Labor,  annual  session, 
1916. 


REMEDIES    FOR    RELIEF    BY    NATIONAL    ORGANIZATIONS      149 

tions  of  it  refer  to  the  organization  of  negro  workers,  the  com- 
mittee recommends  that  that  portion  be  referred  to  the  Executive 
Council."  ^ 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes,  held  in  New  York  City,  January 
29-31,  1918,  resolutions  relating  to  labor  unions  and  the  negroes 
were  adopted  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  place  the  reso- 
lutions before  the  executive  committee  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor.    The  resolutions  adopted  were  as  follows: 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  America,  the  negro  working  man  is  in 
large  numbers  getting  a  chance  to  offer  his  service  at  a  fair  wage  for  various 
kinds  of  work  for  which  he  is  fitted.  This  opportunity,  however,  has  come 
as  a  result  of  conditions  over  which  neither  he,  nor  those  offering  him  the 
chance,  have  control. 

In  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  31st  day  of  January,  1918,  we  in  con- 
ference assembled  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes,  while  in  no  way  seeking  to  condone  the  existence 
of  the  worldwide  war  which  has  been  forced  upon  our  beloved  country,  wish 
to  express  our  gratitude  for  the  industrial  changes  wrought  and  to  record 
our  prayer  that  the  benefits  thus  far  derived  by  the  negro  may  continue  and 
so  enlarge  as  to  embrace  full  and  fair  opportunity  in  all  the  walks  of  life. 

I.  We  wish  especially  to  address  ourselves  to  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor  which  at  its  recent  convention  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  voiced  sound 
democratic  principles  in  its  attitude  toward  negro  labor. 

We  would  ask  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  in  organizing  negroes 
in  the  various  trades,  to  include:  (1)  skilled  as  well  as  unskilled  workmen, 
(2)  northern  as  well  as  southern  workmen,  (3)  government  as  well  as 
civilian  employes,  (4)  women  as  well  as  men  workers. 

We  would  have  negro  labor  handled  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
in  the  same  manner  as  white  labor;  (1)  when  workmen  are  returning  to 
work  after  a  successful  strike ;  (2)  when  shops  are  declared  "  open "  or 
"closed";   (3)   when  union  workers  apply  for  jobs. 

We  would  have  these  assurances  pledged  not  with  word  only,  but  by 
deeds — pledged  by  an  increasing  number  of  examples  of  groups  of  negro 
workmen  given  a  "  square  deal." 

With  these  accomplished,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  urge  negro  working  men 
to  seek  the  advantages  of  sympathetic  cooperation  and  understanding  be- 
tween men  who  work. 

n.  We  would  also  address  ourselves  to  the  Labor  Bureau  of  the  United 
States  Government. 

In  our  national  effort  to  speed  up  production  of  articles  essential  to  the 

1  Report  of  Proceedings.  American  Federation  of  Labor,  annual  session, 
1917. 


150  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

conduct  of  the  war  as  well  as  the  production  of  other  goods,  let  us  not  lose 
sight  of  our  duty  to  our  country  in  quantity  production  by  an  unreasonable 
prejudice  in  many  quarters  against  the  use  of  negro  labor.  Negro  workmen 
are  loyal  and  patriotic,  cheerful  and  versatile.  In  some  sections  there  is  an 
oversupply  of  such  labor ;  in  other  sections  a  shortage. 

We  would  urge  the  appointment  of  one  or  two  competent  negroes  in 
the  Department  of  Labor  to  serve  as  assistants  in  each  of  the  bureaus  in 
distributing  negro  labor  to  meet  war  and  peace  needs. 

III.  We  would  urge  negro  workmen  to  remain  cheerful  and  hopeful  in 
work;  to  be  persevering  in  their  efforts  to  improve  in  regularity,  punctuality 
and  efficiency,  and  to  be  quick  to  grasp  all  opportunities  for  training  both 
themselves  and  their  children.     Success  lies  in  these  directions. 

IV.  We  would  impress  upon  employers  the  fact  that  the  efficiency  of  their 
employes  during  work  hours  depends  very  largely  on  the  use  made  of  the 
non-working  hours.  Most  of  the  complaints  against  negro  labor  can  be 
removed  if  proper  housing,  decent  amusement,  fair  wages  and  proper  treat- 
ment are  provided.^ 

These  resolutions  were  presented  to  the  executive  officers 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  on  February  12,  1918, 
by  a  committee  composed  of  E.  K.  Jones,  Director  of  National 
League  on  Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes,  Robert  R.  Mo- 
ton,  Principal  of  Tuskegee  Institute,  Archibald  H.  Grimke, 
Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  specialist  in  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education,  J.  R.  Shillady,  Secretary  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People,  Fred  R.  Moore, 
editor  of  the  New  York  Age,  George  W.  Harris,  editor  of  the 
New  York  News,  and  Emmett  J.  Scott,  special  assistant  to  the 
Secretary  of  War.  The  committee  requested  of  the  Executive 
Council  that  a  committee  be  appointed  by  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  to  confer  with  a  committee  representing  the 
interests  of  the  negroes.     This  request  was  granted. 

At  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  annual  convention 
held  at  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  in  June,  1918,  the  problem  of 
negro  workers  and  organized  labor  again  received  considerable 
attention.  B.  S.  Lancaster,  a  negro  delegate  to  the  convention 
from  Mobile,  Alabama,  offered  a  resolution  asking  for  the 
appointment  of  a  negro  to  organize  negroes  not  now  affiliated 
with   unions   in   the    shipbuilding   trades.      Another    resolution 

1  Minutes  of  Session,  National  League  on  Urban  Conditions,  January  29-31, 
1918. 


REMEDIES    FOR   RELIEF   BY   NATIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS      151 

was  to  the  effect  that  negro  porters,  cooks,  waiters  and  wait- 
resses, section  hands  and  all  negro  railway  employes  to  be 
organized.  The  press  reports  of  the  convention  under  date 
of  June  12,  said : 

Dr.  R.  R.  Moton,  Principal  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute,  and  J.  R.  Shillady,  of 
the  National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People,  are 
authors  of  a  communication  asking  for  closer  cooperation  between  white 
and  colored  workers.  They  ask  that  Mr.  Gompers  prepare  a  statement  on 
his  stand  toward  negro  labor,  and  charge  that  some  unions  discriminate 
against  colored  workers.  They  urge  consideration  of  revision  of  union 
charters  to  permit  negroes  to  become  members.  The  communication  was 
referred.^ 

These  efforts  were  not  without  some  result,  for  sentiment 
began  to  change.  In  its  August,  1918,  issue  the  editor  of  the 
Labor  News  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  said : 

The  time  has  arrived  for  the  American  labor  movement  to  face  squarely 
the  fact  that  the  negro  is  a  big  factor  in  our  industrial  life,  and  that  he  must 
be  taken  into  account  in  the  adjustment  of  our  economic  differences.  Never 
again  can  the  negro  be  ignored.  Time  and  time  again  the  selfish  masters 
of  industry  have  used  him  to  batter  your  organizations  to  pieces,  and,  in- 
stead of  trying  to  win  him  over,  you  have  savagely  fought  him,  because 
they  used  him  as  a  strikebreaker.  But  the  negro  must  be  made  to  see  the 
value  of  organization  to  himself,  and  he  must  be  incorporated  into  and 
made  a  part  of  the  great  labor  movement.  It  is  a  stupid  policy  to  try  to 
keep  him  out.  Let  us  work  to  shift  him  from  his  present  unhappy  position, 
where  he  is  despised  by  the  big  business  element,  notwithstanding  his  utility 
as  a  strikebreaker,  and  hated  by  unionists  for  his  loyalty  to  the  open  shop 
element.    Unionism  must  welcome  the  negro  to  its  ranks. 

1  Report  of  M.  N,  Work  on  migration  to  the  North. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
Public  Opinion  Regarding  the  Migration 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  a  movement  which  so  profoundly 
affected  the  social  and  economic  life  of  the  South  would  be 
widely  discussed,  and  that  the  resulting  discussions,  wherein 
were  set  forth  at  length  the  views  of  whites  and  negroes,  would 
throw  much  light  upon  the  conditions  existing  prior  to  the 
movement.  How  the  South  viewed  this  taking  away  of  a  large 
part  of  her  labor  supply  was  stated  in  letters  to  the  newspapers 
and  in  newspaper  editorials.  There  were  two  views  as  to  the 
effect  of  the  migration  on  the  South.  One  view  held  that  the 
movement  would  benejfit  the  South  in  that  the  negro  population 
would  be  more  evenly  distributed  over  the  entire  country  and 
as  a  result  the  race  problem  would  be  more  truly  national.  The 
other  view  was  that  negro  labor  was  a  necessity  for  the  South, 
and  the  drawing  of  a  considerable  part  of  this  labor  north 
was  seriously  detrimental  to  the  South's  economic  interests. 

The  following  are  examples  of  expressions  by  those  holding 
the  view  that  the  migration  would  benefit  the  South: 

The  New  Orleans  Times  Picayune  said  : 

Despite  the  attitude  of  certain  extreme  papers  of  the  North  that  there 
was  a  broad  conspiracy  existing  here  to  prevent  the  negroes  from  leaving, 
the  records  show  that  many  southern  papers  and  people  welcomed  the 
movement,  believing  that  it  would  have  a  beneficial  effect  on  the  South  by 
removing  the  negro  majorities  in  many  districts  and  in  at  least  two  States, 
South  Carolina  and  Mississippi.  The  problems  of  negro  majorities  is 
rapidly  working  itself  out.  Louisiana,  a  State  in  which  the  negro  was  more 
numerous  a  few  decades  ago,  is  white  today  by  several  hundred  thousand, 
and  will  have  a  million  more  whites  by  the  next  census.  South  Carolina 
and  Mississippi  expect  to  report  white  majorities  in  the  next  ten  years  as 
they  are  drifting  rapidly  in  that  direction,  and  negro  emigration  will  help 
this  condition  along. 

During  the  first  months  of  this  negro  movement  northward,  a  number  of 
South   Carolina   papers,   led  by  the   Columbia   State,  instead   of   expressing 

152 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  153 

apprehension  over  these  departures,  showed  satisfaction  that  the  State  was 
getting  rid  of  its  excess  of  negroes.  At  the  Southern  Commercial  Congress 
in  a  session  at  Norfolk,  Judge  Francis  D.  Winston,  of  North  Carolina,  ex- 
pressed this  same  view  of  the  situation  in  a  resolution  which  declares  that: 
"  The  complete  industrial,  intellectual  and  social  development  of  the  south- 
ern States  can  be  secured  only  when  the  negro  becomes  a  part  of  the 
citizenship  of  our  sister  States,  and  that  we  will  encourage  all  movements 
tending  to  an  equitable  distribution  of  our  negro  population  among  the 
other  States  of  the  Union. 

It  is  not  likely  that  there  will  be  any  serious  objection  to  a  declaration  of 
this  kind  in  favor  of  the  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  negroes  through- 
out the  country  as  the  question  involved  can  then  be  better  handled.  No 
encouragement  to  the  negroes  to  leave  the  South  will  be  held  out,  but  there 
will  be  no  effort  made  to  keep  the  negroes  from  going  beyond  explaining 
the  situation  to  them.i 


A  comment  of  the  Nashville  Banner  was: 

From  a  logical  point  of  view  that  looks  beyond  immediate  emergencies, 
the  southern  whites  should  encourage  negro  emigration  to  the  North,  not 
for  the  cynical  motives  that  impelled  the  late  Hon.  Jeff  Davis  while  Gov- 
ernor of  Arkansas  to  pardon  negro  convicts  on  condition  that  they  go  to 
Massachusetts  to  live,  but  to  relieve  the  South  of  the  entire  burden  and 
all  the  brunt  of  the  race  problem,  and  make  room  for  and  to  create  greater 
inducements  for  white  immigration  that  the  South  very  much  needs.  Some 
thousands  of  negroes  going  north  every  year  and  a  corresponding  number 
of  whites  coming  south  would  affect  a  distribution  of  the  races  that  would 
be  in  many  ways  beneficial  and  that  at  the  very  least  would  take  away  from 
the  race  problem  all  sectional  aspects,  which  is  and  has  always  been  the 
chief  cause  of  sectional  ill  feeling.  And  it  would  in  the  end  give  the  South 
a  homogeneous  citizenship. 

The  Vicksburg  Herald  ^  was  of  the  opinion  that : 

Adjustments  and  compensation  will,  we  have  faith,  come.  The  northern 
drift  as  it  continues,  and  carries  thousands  with  it,  will  lower  negro  con- 
gestion in  certain  sections  of  the  South.  Such  a  change,  restrained  and 
graduated  against  violent  progression,  promises  ultimate  benefit.  In  the 
South,  the  effect  of  losing  thousands  of  negroes  from  lands  in  southern 
Mississippi  is  already  .  .  .  producing  a  wholesome  farm  diversification  and 
economic  stimulation.  Then,  too,  a  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  sons 
of  Ham  will  teach  the  Caucasians  of  the  northern  States  that  wherever  there 
is  a  negro  infusion,  there  will  be  a  race  problem — a  white  man's  burden — 
which  they  are  destined  to  share. 

^  New  Orleans  Times  Picayune,  December  15,  1916. 
2  August  19,  1916. 


154  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

Among  those  holding  the  view  that  the  South  needed  the 
negro  was  the  Memphis  Commercial  Appeal.^  Concerning  this 
an  editorial  in  this  paper  said  that  not  only  does  the  South  need 
the  negro,  but  that  he  should  be  encouraged  to  stay. 

The  enormous  demand  for  labor  and  the  changing  conditions  brought 
about  by  the  boll  weevil  in  certain  parts  of  the  South  have  caused  an 
exodus  of  negroes  which  may  be  serious.  Great  colonies  of  negroes  have 
gone  north  to  work  in  factories,  in  packing  houses  and  on  the  railroads. 

Some  of  our  friends  think  that  these  negroes  are  being  taken  north  for 
the  purpose  of  voting  them  in  November.  Such  is  not  the  case.  The 
restriction  of  immigration  because  of  the  European  war  and  the  tremendous 
manufacturing  and  industrial  activity  in  the  North  have  resulted  in  a 
scarcity  of  labor.  The  negro  is  a  good  track  hand.  He  is  also  a  good 
man  around  packing  houses,  and  in  certain  elementary  trades  he  is  useful. 

The  South  needs  every  able-bodied  negro  that  is  now  south  of  the  line, 
and  every  negro  who  remains  south  of  the  line  will  in  the  end  do  better 
than  he  will  do  in  the  North. 

The  negro  has  been  a  tremendous  factor  in  the  development  of  agricul- 
ture and  all  the  commerce  of  the  South.  But  in  the  meantime,  if  we  are 
to  keep  him  here,  and  if  we  are  to  have  the  best  use  of  his  business  capacity, 
there  is  a  certain  duty  that  the  white  man  himself  must  discharge  in  his 
relation  to  the  negro. 

The  business  of  lynching  negroes  is  bad,  and  we  believe  it  is  declining, 
but  the  worst  thing  is  that  the  wrong  negro  is  often  lynched.  The  negro 
should  be  protected  in  all  his  legal  rights.  Furthermore,  in  some  com- 
munities, some  white  people  make  money  at  the  expense  of  the  negro's 
lack  of  intelligence.  Unfair  dealing  with  the  negro  is  not  a  custom  in  the 
South.  It  is  not  the  rule,  but  here  and  there  the  taking  of  enormous 
profits  from  the  labor  of  the  negro  is  known  to  exist. 

It  should  be  so  arranged  that  the  negro  in  the  city  does  not  have  to 
raise  his  children  in  the  alleys  and  in  the  streets.  Liquor  in  the  cities 
has  been  a  great  curse  to  negroes.  Millions  of  dollars  have  been  made  by 
no  account  white  people  selling  no  account  liquor  to  negroes  and  thus 
making  a  whole  lot  of  negroes  no  account.  Happily  this  business  is  being 
extinguished. 

The  negroes  who  are  in  the  South  should  be  encouraged  to  remain 
there,  and  those  white  people  who  are  in  the  boll  weevil  territory  should 
make  every  sacrifice  to  keep  their  negro  labor  until  there  can  be  adjust- 
ments to  the  new  and  quickly  prosperous  conditions  that  will  later  exist. 

Among  those  holding  the  same  view  that  the  South  needed 
the  negro  was  the  Georgia  Enquirer  Sun  of  Columbus,  Georgia.^ 

1  October  5,  1916. 

2  December  2,  1916. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  155 

An  editorial  in  this  paper  said  that  not  only  does  the  South  need 
the  negro  but  that  he  should  be  encouraged  to  stay. 

The  Enquirer  Sun  further  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  South 
needs  the  negro : 

With  the  certainty  that  a  number  will  differ  with  us,  we  state  that  the 
negro  is  an  economic  necessitj'  to  the  South.  Our  plantations  are  large, 
our  climate  is  peculiar,  and  we  ourselves  are  not  accustomed  to  doing 
the  work  that  we  ask  the  negro  to  do.  Serious  labor  conditions  have 
confronted  us  before,  and  it  is  exceedingly  rare  to  find  the  native  land 
owning  white  farmer,  who  has  been  accustomed  to  employ  negro  labor, 
taking  the  negro's  place  when  the  negro  leaves  his  neighborhood.  The 
same  conditions  exist  in  the  industries  where  we  of  the  South  have  been 
depending  upon  the  negroes  as  artisans  in  our  industries  or  mines. 

The  South  has  refused  to  accept  immigration  as  a  means  of  supplying 
our  demands  for  labor.  The  farmers  stand  up  and  howl  about  preserving 
the  pure  blood  of  the  South  and  invent  all  sorts  of  reasons  for  prohibiting 
the  immigration  of  the  same  classes  of  people  who  have  been  making 
the  North  and  East  rich  for  years ;  the  same  classes  that  build  the  eighth 
wonder  of  the  world — the  Middle  West.  Now,  if  we  are  going  to  prohibit 
immigration,  we  must  consider  the  economic  status  sufficiently  seriously 
to  preserve  the  only  reliable  supply  of  labor  which  we  have  ever  known. 
That  is  the  negro.  We  should  ponder  over  the  situation  seriously  and 
not  put  off  until  tomorrow  its  consideration,  because  this  movement  is 
growing  every  day.  We  should  exercise  our  influence  with  our  landlords 
and  our  merchants  to  see  that  a  fairer  division  of  profit  is  made  with  the 
negro  and  should  watch  the  prices  charged  him  as  well  as  the  interest 
charged  him.  We  should  see  that  the  industries  offer  and  pay  to  him  a 
full  and  fair  wage  for  his  labor  which  will  compare  favorably  with  the 
wages  offered  in  the  East.  We  should  see  to  it  that  the  police  in  our 
towns,  cities  and  counties  cease  making  distinction  between  the  negro  and 
the  white  man  when  the  negro  is  not  absolutely  known  to  be  a  criminal. 
When  we  do  these  things,  we  will  keep  our  labor  and  we  need  to  keep  it. 

In  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the  need  of  the  South 
for  the  negro,  the  duty  of  the  South  to  the  negro  was  pointed 
out.    According  to  the  Columbia  (S.  C.)  State :^ 

If  the  southern  white  people  would  have  the  negroes  remain,  they  must 
treat  the  negroes  justly.  If  they  refuse  to  do  so  their  hope  of  keeping 
negro  labor  is  in  the  unwillingness  of  the  North  to  treat  them  justly, 
and  we  fear  that  this  hope  is  more  substantial  than  the  North  likes  to 
admit.  Justice  ought  to  be  cultivated  everywhere  for  its  own  sake.  Surely 
common    sense    will    dictate   to   the    South    that    it    ought    to    forestall    the 

1  December  22,  1916. 


156  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

disruption  of  our  industrial  establishment  by  causing  negroes  to  understand 
that  they  are  safe  where  they  are. 

The  Macon  Telegraph  said  of  negro  labor:  "If  we  lose  it,  we  go  bank- 
rupt." Yet  this  same  paper  only  a  few  months  before  was  advocating  the 
sending  of  100,000  negroes  into  Mexico  to  conquer  the  "  mongrel  breed," 
and  at  the  same  time  rid  the  South  of  that  many  worthless  negroes. 

The  black  man  has  no  quarrel  with  the  Mexican,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  certainly  has  a  disagreement  with  conditions  as  they  affect  him  in  the 
South,  and,  when  he  desires  to  improve  those  conditions  by  getting  away 
from  them,  he  must  be  checked.  Plenty  of  "  sound  advice "  is  given  him 
about  staying  in  the  South  among  his  friends  and  under  the  same  old  con- 
ditions. The  bugaboo  of  cold  weather  is  put  before  him  to  frighten  him, 
of  race  antagonism  and  sundry  other  things,  but  not  one  word  about 
better  treatment  is  suggested  to  lighten  the  burden,  no  sane  and  reasonable 
remedy  offered. 

The  black  labor  is  the  best  labor  the  South  can  get,  no  other  would  work 
long  under  the  same  conditions.  It  has  been  faithful  and  loyal,  but  that 
loyalty  can  be  undermined,  witness  the  exodus. 

A  letter  published  in  the  Montgomery  Advertiser^  truly  says: 

And  the  negro  will  not  come  back  once  he  leaves  the  South. 

The  World  War  is  bringing  many  changes  and  a  chance  for  the  negro 
to  enter  broader  fields.  With  the  "tempting  bait"  of  higher  wages,  shorter 
hours,  better  schools  and  better  treatment,  all  the  preachments  of  the  so- 
called  race  leaders  will  fall  on  deaf  ears. 

It  is  probable  that  the  "well  informed  negro,"  who  told  the  Birmingham 
editor  that  it  was  good  schools  that  were  drawing  the  negro,  could  have 
given  other  and  more  potent  reasons  had  he  been  so  minded.  He  could 
have  told  how  deep  down  in  the  negro's  heart  he  has  no  love  for  pro- 
scription, segregation,  lynchings,  the  petty  persecutions  and  cruelties  against 
him,  nor  for  the  arresting  of  "fifty  niggers  for  what  three  of  'em  done," 
even  if  it  takes  all  of  this  to  uphold  the  scheme  of  civilization. 

From  Savannah  alone,  three  thousand  negroes  went,  from  sixteen  year 
old  boys  to  men  of  sixty  years.  There  must  be  something  radically  wrong 
when  aged  negroes  are  willing  to  make  the  change.  There  is  greater  unrest 
among  negroes  than  those  in  high  places  are  aware. 

Let  the  Advertiser  speak  out  in  the  same  masterful  way,  with  the  same 
punch  and  pep  for  a  square  deal  for  the  negro,  that  it  does  for  democracy 
and  the  right  for  local  self-government. 

What  was  the  attitude  of  the  northern  whites  toward  the 
migration?  Although  the  North  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
adding  of  a  million  foreigners  annually  to  her  population,  these 
newcomers  were  white  people  and  as  such  did  not  occasion  the 

1  The  Advertiser,  Montgomery,  Alabama,  September  22,  1917. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  157 

comment  or  create  just  the  problems  which  a  large  influx  of 
negroes  created.  The  migration  of  the  negro  attracted  a  great 
deal  of  public  attention.  A  wide  and  extended  discussion  of 
the  movement  was  carried  on  through  the  press.  The  attitude 
which  the  white  people  assumed  toward  the  migrants  was  ex- 
pressed in  this  discussion. 

The  New  Republic  of  New  York  City  ^  pointed  out  that  the 
movement  gave  the  negro  a  chance  and  that  he,  the  South  and 
the  nation,  would  in  the  end,  all  be  gainers. 

When  Austria  found  the  Serbian  reply  inadmissible,  the  American  negro, 
who  had  never  heard  of  Count  Berchtold,  and  did  not  care  whether  Bosnia 
belonged  to  Austria  or  Siam,  got  his  "  chance."  It  was  not  the  sort  of 
chance  that  came  to  the  makers  of  munitions — a  chance  to  make  millions. 
It  was  merely  a  widening  of  a  very  narrow  foothold  on  life,  a  slightly 
better  opportunity  to  make  his  way  in  the  industrial  world  of  America. 

In  the  beginning  such  a  migration  of  negroes  would  increase  the  present 
race  friction  in  the  North.  Within  certain  limits  a  racial  minority  is 
unpopular  directly  in  proportion  to  its  numbers.  Only  as  it  increases  to 
the  point  where  political  and  economic  power  makes  it  formidable,  does 
it  overcome  opposition.  The  negro's  competition  for  jobs  and  homes 
will  probably  exacerbate  relations.  As  the  negroes  increased  in  numbers 
they  would  not  only  seek  menial  and  unskilled  work,  but  also  strive  to  enter 
skilled  trades  where  they  would  meet  with  antagonism  of  white  workers. 
Moreover,  the  negroes  would  be  forced  to  seek  homes  in  what  are  no*v 
regarded  as  "  white  "  neighborhoods,  and  a  clamor  would  be  raised  at  each 
new  extension  of  their  dwelling  area. 

The  antidote  to  persecution,  however,  is  power,  and  if  the  northern 
negroes  are  more  numerous  and  more  urgently  needed  in  our  industrial 
life,  they  could  protect  themselves  from  the  worst  forms  of  discrimination. 
If  by  1930  the  negro  population  of  the  North  has  become  three  millions, 
instead  of  the  fraction  over  one  million  which  it  is  today,  and  if  these 
three  millions  live  better  and  save  and  spend  more  per  capita  than  today, 
they  will  profit  more  than  they  will  lose  from  their  greater  numbers. 
Their  custom  will  be  more  valuable,  their  political  power  greater  and,  as 
wage  earners,  they  will  be  strong  enough  to  strike.  Once  they  have  com- 
pletely filled  a  new  neighborhood,  opposition  will  cease.  Moreover,  the 
industrial  competition  with  white  workmen,  while  severe  at  certain  crucial 
points,  should  not  permanently  be  dangerous,  since  the  very  conditions  which 
bring  the  negro  north  also  make  for  higher  wages  for  the  white  workers. 
What  the  white  wage  earner  desires  is  not  an  industrial  exploitation  of  the 
negro,  but  the  maintenance  of  the  white  man's  superiority  of  position. 

For  the  nation  as  a  whole,  such  a  gradual  dissemination  of  the  negroes 
among  all  the  States  would  ultimately  be  of  real  advantage.     If  at  the  end 

ijuly  1,  1917. 


158  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE    WAR 

of  half  a  century,  only  SO  or  60  per  cent,  instead  of  89  per  cent  of  the 
negroes,  were  congregated  in  the  southern  States,  it  would  end  the  fear  of 
race  domination,  and  take  from  the  South  many  of  its  peculiar  characteris- 
tics, which  today  hamper  development.  To  the  negro  it  would  be  of  even 
more  obvious  benefit.  The  race  would  be  far  better  educated,  considerably 
richer,  and  with  greater  political  power.  Success  for  the  negroes  of  the 
North  would  mean  better  conditions  for  southern  negroes.  For  if  the 
southern  negro,  finding  political  and  social  conditions  intolerable,  were 
able  to  emigrate  to  the  North,  he  would  have  in  his  hand  a  weapon  as 
effective  as  any  he  could  find  in  the  ballot  box. 

The  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  Daily  Northwestern  felt  that  a  large 
influx  of  colored  people  would  bring  to  the  North  the  same 
perplexing  problems  that  long  have  disturbed  the  people  of 
the  southern  States. 

This,  in  fact,  is  the  most  serious  aspect  of  this  reported  migration  of 
southern  blacks,  and  it  is  suggestive  of  no  end  of  trouble  for  some  of 
the  northern  States,  which  heretofore  have  regarded  the  so-called  negro 
problem  as  something  which  little  concerns  them.  The  South  has  struggled 
for  years  to  solve  this  problem,  with  its  many  phases  and  angles,  and 
never  yet  has  found  a  satisfactory  solution.  Should  the  same  bafifling 
questions  be  forced  on  the  North  it  would  give  the  people  something  to 
think  about,  and  many  will  gain  a  new  appreciation  of  the  perplexities  of 
the  southern  whites.  And  the  necessity  of  facing  this  new  problem  may 
come  to  the  North  much  sooner  than  generally  is  expected. 

The  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  Union  ^  was  also  of  the 
opinion  that : 

The  North  has  been  strong  for  the  negro,  considered  as  a  political 
entity,  but  our  communities  are  manifestly  not  desirous  of  supplying  a 
field  for  him  to  expand  and  adapt  himself  to  the  social  structure,  and  their 
leaders  experience  more  difficulty  in  this  regard  than  do  their  co-laborers 
in  the  South,  with  its  vast  colored  population.  This  in  itself  furnished 
food   for  careful   thought. 

In  a  way,  there  is  justification  for  a  disinclination  on  the  part  of  New 
Englanders  to  add  a  large  negro  element  to  their  number.  We  have  enough 
of  a  problem  already  to  absorb  and  educate  the  large  alien  element  that 
has  come  into  our  midst  from  the  Old  World.  Our  duty  toward  our 
colored  residents  should  not  go  unrecognized,  and  the  first  step  toward  a 
just  and  fair  disposal  of  related  problems  is  to  admit  frankly  that  a  rather 
strict  color  line  is  being  drawn  among  us. 

1  July  16,  1916. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  159 

The  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  Ncu's'^  held  that  the  migration  had 
brought  the  negro  problem  north  and  made  it  national : 

The  negro  problem  has  moved  north.  Rather,  the  negro  problem  has 
spread  from  south  to  north ;  and  beside  it  in  the  South  is  appearing  a 
stranger  to  that  clime — the  labor  problem. 

It's  a  double  development  brought  about  by  the  war  in  Europe,  and  the 
nation  has  not  yet  realized  its  significance.  Within  a  few  years,  experts 
predict  the  negro  population  of  the  North  will  be  tripled.  It's  your  prob- 
lem, then,  or  it  will  be  when  the  negro  moves  next  door. 

Italians'  and  Greeks  are  giving  way  to  the  negroes  in  the  section  gangs 
along  northern  railroads,  as  you  can  see  from  the  train  windows,  and  as 
labor  agents  admit.  Northern  cities  that  had  only  small  colored  popula- 
tions are  finding  their  "white"  sections  invaded  by  negro  families,  strangers 
to  the  town.  Many  cities  are  in  for  the  experience  that  has  befallen  all 
communities  on  the  edge  of  the  North  and  South — gradual  encroachment 
of  colored  folks  on  territory  occupied  by  whites ;  depreciation  in  realty 
values  and  lowering  of  rents,  and  finally,  movmg  of  the  white  families 
to  other  sections,  leaving  the  districts  in  possession  of  colored  families 
with  a  small  sprinkling  of  whites. 

This  means  racial  resentment — for  the  white  family  that  moves  to  escape 
negro  proximity  always  carries,  justly  or  not,  a  prejudice  against  the  black 
race.     It  hits  your  pocket  too. 

Negroes  will  enter  trades  now  monopolized  by  white  men,  at  first,  per- 
haps, as  strike  breakers ;  later,  as  non-union  competitors,  working  for 
smaller  wages.  It  will  take  some  time,  probably,  to  get  them  into  the 
labor  unions'  way  of  thinking. 

Politicians,  both  good  and  bad,  will  seek  the  ballot  of  a  large  new  element, 
which  will  vote  largely  in  the  lump.  Now,  what  will  be  the  effect  in  the 
southern  States?  Already  the  offers  of  better  jobs  further  north  have 
caused  strikes  among  southern  negroes — something  almost  unheard  of. 
The  South  gets  no  immigration,  but  the  negro  has  been  an  ever  present 
source  of  cheap  labor.  With  the  black  tide  setting  north,  the  southern 
negro,  formerly  a  docile  tool,  is  demanding  better  pay,  better  food  and 
better  treatment.  And  no  longer  can  the  South  refuse  to  give  it  to  him. 
For  when  the  South  refuses  the  negro  moves  away.  It's  a  national  problem 
now,  instead  of  a  sectional  problem.    And  it  has  got  to  be  solved. 

The  New  York  Globe  ^  said  that : 

For  more  than  a  year  a  migration  of  men  and  women  of  color  to  north- 
ern States  has  been  going  on  that  has  already  deprived  thousands  of 
southern  farmers  of  cheap  labor.  And  the  movement  bids  fair  to  con- 
tinue. That  it  will  have  both  good  and  bad  effects  is  obvious.  It  will 
distribute  the  negro  population  more  evenly  throughout  the  States  and  thus 
tend  to   diminish  race   friction.     But  unless  there  is  a  change  of  spirit  on 

1  August  25.   1916. 

2  July  31,  1916. 


160  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

the  part  of  northern  unions,  it  will  increase  the  danger  of  labor  troubles 
in  case  of  industrial  depression. 

The  Pittsburgh  Dispatch^  held  that  the  migration  was  help- 
ing the  negro.     It  was  of  the  opinion  that: 

This  movement  eastward  and  westward  of  unskilled  negro  labor  will 
both  directly  and  indirectly  help  the  negro.  The  younger  element,  those 
of  ambition  and  of  some  training  in  the  schools,  will  be  constantly  emerging 
from  unskilled  to  the  semiskilled  classes,  with  a  consequent  increase  in 
their  pay  rolls  and  a  betterment  in  their  methods  of  living. 

A  decidedly  better  treatment  of  the  negro,  both  in  the  North  and  the 
South,  will  grow  out  of  the  fact  that  the  demand  for  his  labor  has  been 
limited  and  the  supply  unlimited. 

In  the  spring  of  1918  the  Walla  Walla,  Washington,  Bulletin  ^ 
summed  up  the  situation  thus: 

There  was  much  alarm  a  year  or  two  ago  over  the  migration  of  negroes 
to  the  North  in  large  numbers.  It  was  felt  that  they  had  far  better  stay 
HI  the  South,  in  a  familiar  and  congenial  environment,  and  keep  on  raising 
cotton  and  food,  than  crowd  into  the  inhospitable  North  for  unaccustomed 
factory  work.  We  have  heard  less  of  that  lately;  it  is  still  doubtful  whether 
the  change  is  good  for  the  negro  himself,  and  there's  no  question  that  his 
coming  has  complicated  housing  conditions  and  social  problems  in  northern 
cities.  But  economically  the  matter  appears  in  a  new  light.  At  a  time 
when  war  industries  were  starving  for  labor,  the  negro  provided  the  labor. 
He  is  recognized  as  a  new  industrial  asset. 

The  migration  has  been  unfortunate,  to  be  sure,  for  the  communities 
thus  deprived  of  agricultural  labor;  but  it  is  said  that  from  a  broad, 
national  standpoint  the  gain  to  the  manufacturing  industries  more  than 
compensates.  And  there  has  been  an  actual  increase  in  the  output  of 
energy.  The  negro  works  harder  in  the  North.  He  produces  more.  He 
is  thus  of  more  use  to  the  community.  And  for  the  benefit  he  brings, 
communities  are  more  willing  than  they  were  at  first  to  tolerate  the 
inconvenience  due  to  his  coming. 

Some  of  the  negro  newspapers  opposed  the  migration. 
Prominent  among  these  was  the  Journal  and  Guide  of  Norfolk, 
Virginia,  and  the  Voice  of  the  People  of  Birmingham,  Alabama. 
In  speaking  against  the  migration,  the  Journal  and  Guide  ^  said : 

1  October  1,  1916. 

2  March  13,  1918. 

3  March  24,  1917. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  161 

It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  check  the  operation  of  an  economic 
law,  and  it  is  perfectly  natural  that  men  should  seek  fields  of  labor  in 
which  they  are  promised  higher  wages  and  better  conditions,  but  those 
who  go  and  those  who  encourage  the  going  of  them  should  get  the  facts 
of  the  so-called  inducements  and  learn  the  truth  about  them  before  lending 
their  influence  to  a  movement  that  can  not  only  promise  no  permanent 
good  to  laborers,  but  works  untold  injury  to  the  foundation  of  their  own 
economic  structure. 

Another  phase  of  the  matter,  and  one  that  invites  the  condemnation  of 
all  honest  persons,  is  the  manner  in  which  negro  labor  is  at  present  ex- 
ploited to  satisfy  the  selfish  whims  of  a  group  of  misguided  and  ill-advised 
agitators  and  fanatics  on  the  race  question.  All  of  the  nice  talk  about 
"  fleeing  from  southern  oppression,"  and  going  where  "  equal  rights  and 
social  privileges  "  await  them  is  pure  buncombe.  It  is  strange  that  negro 
labor  should  stand  the  oppression  of  the  South  for  fifty  years  and  sud- 
denly make  up  its  mind  to  move  northward  as  an  evidence  of  its  resentment. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the  element  of  negroes  in  the  South 
that  feel  the  oppression  most  is  not  concerned  in  the  migration  movement. 
Nor  are  they  going  to  leave  their  homes  and  accumulations  of  half  a  cen- 
tury as  a  solution  of  their  problems.  They  are  going  to  remain  here 
and  fight  out  their  constitutional  rights  accorded  them  here  in  the  land  of 
their  birth. 

The  editor  of  The  Star  of  Zion,  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,* 
conceded  the  right  of  the  negro  to  go  wherever  he  had  oppor- 
tunity to  go;  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  doubtful  whether  a 
wholesale  exodus  was  for  the  best.     He  said: 

While  I  concede  the  black  man's  right  to  go  where  he  likes,  for  he  has 
the  right  of  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  yet  I  doubt  the  wisdom 
of  such  wholesale  exodus  from  the  South.  There  are  some  things  which 
the  negro  needs  far  more  than  his  wages,  or  some  of  the  rights  for  which 
he  contends.     He  needs  conservation   of   his  moral  life. 

In  the  North  a  negro  is  brought  face  to  face  with  new  problems;  among 
the  many  is  the  problem  of  adjusting  himself  to  the  abundance  of  freedom 
into  which  he  comes  so  suddenly.  His  new  freedom  brings  him  new  changes, 
as  well  as  new  opportunities,  for  among  the  roses  there  lies  the  thorn.  .  .  . 
While  the  inducements  of  the  North  are  very  alluring,  in  the  end  the  negro 
problem  must  be  wrought  out  in  the   South. 

Concerning  the  Journal  and  Guide's  position,  the  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina,  Independent  -  took  issue  and  said : 

Our  disagreement  with  our  estimable  contemporary,  the  Norfolk  Journal 
and  Guide,  we  are  persuaded,  is  far  less  real  than  seeming.     Essentially  we 

ijuly  19,  1917. 
2  April  28,  1917. 


162  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

are  in  accord.  We  are  certain  that  the  Journal  and  Guide  is  not  advocating 
the  limitation  of  the  negro  to  any  one  section  of  the  country.  If  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  present  war  have  created  a  demand  for  his  labor  in  the  North 
at  better  wages  than  he  can  secure  in  the  South  like  other  people,  he 
should  take  advantage  of  it  and  plant  himself  firmly  in  the  industrial  life 
of  the  section. 

There  are  two  ways  by  which  we  may  improve  our  condition  in  this 
country.  The  one  is  segregation — voluntary  segregation.  The  other  is 
"  scatteration."  If  we  can  come  together,  build  up  communities  of  our 
own,  promote  them  into  towns  and  even  cities,  we  shall  do  well.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  shall  scatter  all  over  the  land  and  have  nowhere  a 
numerical  congestion,  we  strengthen  our  cause. 

The  Dallas  (Texas)  Express^  said: 

The  strangest  thing,  the  real  mystery  about  the  exodus,  is  that  in  all  the 
Southland  there  has  not  been  a  single  meeting  or  promoter  to  start  the 
migration.  Just  simultaneously  all  over  the  South  about  a  year  ago,  the 
negro  began  to  cross  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line.  Indeed,  this  is  a  most 
striking  case  where  the  negro  has  been  doing  a  great  deal  more  thinking 
than  talking,  knowing  he  is  not  given  the  freedom  of  speech.  Who  knows, 
then,  what  the  providence  of  God  is  in  this  exodus.  This  exodus  is  not 
by  any  means  confined  to  the  worthless  or  the  ignorant  negro.  A  large 
per  cent  of  the  young  negroes  in  this  exodus  are  rather  intelligent.  Many 
of  the  business  houses  in  Houston,  Dallas  and  Galveston,  where  the  exodus 
is  greatest  in  Texas,  have  lost  some  of  their  best  help.  To  tell  the  truth 
more  fully,  the  negroes  generally  throughout  the  South  are  more  dissatis- 
fied with  conditions  than  they  have  been  for  several  years  and  there  are 
just  reasons  why  they  should  be.  Every  negro  newspaper  and  publication 
in  this  broad  land,  including  pamphlets  and  books,  and  the  intelligent  negro 
pastor  with  backbone  and  courage  are  constantly  protesting  against  the 
injustices  done  the  negro.  And  possibly  these  agents  have  been  the  greatest 
incentives  to  help  create  and  crystalhze  this  unrest  and  migration. 

How  the  negro  should  be  treated  and  what  would  hold  him 
in  the  South  was  discussed  at  length  and  on  many  occasions 
in  the  columns  of  the  Atlanta  (Georgia)  Independent.^  An 
example  of  this  discussion  follows: 

Last  week  we  discussed  at  length  the  negro  exodus.  We  tried  to  point 
out  in  plain,  simple  and  manly  language  the  reason  and  remedy  for  moving 
north.  We  warned  our  white  neighbors  that  city  ordinances  and  legislation 
could  not  stem  the  tide;  that  humane  treatment  would  do  more  to  settle 
the    negro's   industrial   and   economic    unrest   than    anything   else;    that   the 

1  August   11,   1917. 

2  January  27,  1917. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  163 

South  was  his  natural  home  and  he  desired  to  stay  here ;  but  in  order  to 
keep  him  at  home  he  must  have  contentment;  he  had  to  be  assured  of 
protection  of  life  and  property;  assured  of  the  enjoyment  of  pubhc  utilities; 
assured  of  educational  advantages,  ample  and  adequate,  to  prepare  his 
children  for  useful  and  helpful  citizenship;  he  must  be  permitted  to  serve 
God  unmolested  and  to  assemble  in  the  community  where  he  lives,  in 
church,  in  society  and  politics  ;  for  his  own  moral,  intellectual  and  physical 
benefit  he  must  be  given  living  wages  and  reminded  in  his  daily  dealings 
with  his  white  neighbor  that  he  is  a  citizen,  not  a  negro,  and  that  he  is 
charged  with  responsibilities  like  other  citizens.  The  negro  is  conscious 
of  his  racial  identity  and  not  ashamed  of  it.  He  is  proud  of  his  race  and 
his  color,  but  does  not  like  to  have  the  word  "  negro  "  define  his  relation 
as  a  citizen.  The  white  man  should  understand  that  the  negro  is  making 
progress ;  that  he  is  getting  property  and  education ;  that  his  wants  are 
increasing  in  common  with  the  white  man's  wants  and  that  he  is  not 
going  to  be  bottled  up  or  hemmed  up  in  any  community,  so  long  as  there 
is  another  community  on  the  face  of  the  earth  where  he  can  breathe  freely 
and  enjoy  the  pursuits  of  life,  liberty  and  happiness  in  common  with  other 
men. 

The  Christian  Index  ^  the  official  organ  of  the  Colored  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  published  at  Jackson,  Tennessee,  was  of 
the  opinion  that: 

There  are  two  sets  of  causes  for  the  negro  leaving  the  South  at  this 
time.  One  set  may  be  known  as  the  surface  causes  and  the  other  set  beneath- 
the-surface  causes.  The  surface  causes  are  easily  seen  and  understood 
These  are  economic  causes.  The  war  in  Europe  has  called  home  foreigners 
out  of  the  industrial  centers  of  the  North  and  West.  These  large  factories 
and  other  industrial  enterprises,  representing  enormous  investments,  had  to 
turn  in  some  other  direction  for  labor.  These  large  industrial  opportunities 
with  higher  wages  made  strong  appeals  to  the  southern   negro. 

The  beneath-the-surface  causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  handicaps  under 
which  the  negro  labors  in  the  South  and  the  uncivilized  treatment  to 
which  he  is  subjected.  He  is  segregated.  To  this  he  most  strenuously 
objects.  There  is  a  difference  between  segregation  and  separation,  espe- 
cially so  in  the  southern  interpretation  of  segregation  as  observed  in  the 
practice  of  the  South  in  its  enforcement  of  the  idea.  Separation  in  matters 
social  and  religious  is  not  necessarily  objectionable.  Left  alone  each  race 
group  instinctively  seeks  separation  from  other  race  groups.  But  segrega- 
tion, as  we  have  it.  means  more  than  separation  ;  it  means  inferiority  and 
humiliation.  It  means  not  only  another  section  of  the  city  for  the  negro, 
but  a  section  that  is  inferior  in  improvement  and  protection  ;  it  means  not 
only  a  different  school,  but  an  inferior  school  both  in  building  and  equip- 
ment ;    it   means    not   only    separate   accommodations    on    the    railroads,    but 

1  June  24,  1917. 


164  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

deplorably  inferior  accommodations;  this,  too,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that 
the  negro  pays  the  same  price  that  is  paid  by  others. 

Another  cause  is  the  code  of  laws,  or  rather  the  practice  of  it,  that 
gives  more  concern  to  the  color  of  a  man's  skin  than  to  the  merits  of  a 
case  he  may  have  in  the  courts  of  justice.  The  negro  is  taught  not  to 
expect  justice  in  the  courts,  however  industrious,  honest,  law  abiding  he 
may  be,  when  his  lawful  rights  to  liberty  and  protection  are  contested  by 
a  white  man.  The  negro  suffers  in  the  courts,  not  always  because  he  is 
guilty,  not  because  he  lacks  character,  but  because  his  skin,  not  his  heart, 
is  black. 

What  was  the  attitude  of  the  northern  negroes  toward  the 
migration?  With  some  exceptions,  negroes  north  assumed  a 
friendly  attitude  toward  the  migrants.  Many  of  these  residents 
of  the  North  were  themselves  but  recently  come  from  the  South. 
The  newcomers  were  looked  upon  as  brethren,  just  coming  into 
the  "  Promised  Land."  They  were  welcomed  in  the  churches 
and  otherwise  made  to  feel  at  home.  In  some  cities  there  were 
organizations  of  resident  negroes  to  look  after  the  welfare  of 
the  new  arrivals.  In  the  northern  race  newspapers,  the  attitude 
of  the  negro  north  was  fully  set  forth,  as  the  following  extracts 
from  the  New  York  News  ^  indicate : 

We  hail  with  no  alarm  whatever  the  influx  of  colored  men  from  the 
South.  The  colored  people  of  the  North  will  be  strengthened  by  the 
hard  working,  ambitious  laborers  added  to  their  numbers.  The  laboring 
conditions  and  life  of  the  masses  of  the  colored  people  in  the  South  will 
be  made  better  and  brighter  by  their  leaving. 

Yet  a  heavy  responsibility  rests  upon  every  colored  leader,  moral  and 
civic,  in  these  northern  States  to  take  an  especial  interest  in  their  newly 
arriving  brethren.  You  must  teach  them  not  to  take  their  liberty  to  be 
ladies  and  gentlemen  for  license  to  degrade  themselves  and  their  race 
here.  You  must  urge  them  to  avoid  the  deadly  vice  and  wasting  extrava- 
gance of  the  unhealthy  congested  city.  They  should  find  their  homes  and 
rear  their  families  in  the  suburbs,  where  they  can  buy  their  own  homes 
and  properly  train  their  children  in  head,  hand  and  heart.  Urge  them  to 
get  steady  work  and  settle  down.  Urge  them  to  become  good  citizens 
and  better  parents.  Urge  them  to  go  to  church,  to  lead  patient  Christian 
lives  and  all  will  come  out  well  in  the  end. 

The  Philadelphia  Christian  Recorder  ^  took  the  ground  that : 

1.  The  negro  is  an  American.  He  speaks  the  language  of  the  country 
and  is,  therefore,  superior  to  the   foreigner  in  this  respect. 

1  September  17.  1916. 

2  February  1,  1917. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  165 

2.  He  knows  the  customs  of  the  country  and  here  again  has  the  advantage 
of  the  foreigner. 

3.  He  is  a  peaceable  worker  and  is  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  make 
good. 

4.  The  negro  is  physically  the  equal  and  morally  the  superior  of  the  immi- 
grant from  Europe. 

There  are  reasons  why  the  negro  should  succeed  in  the  North.  So  we 
have  no  doubt  that  many  will  come. 

Indeed,  if  a  million  negroes  move  north  and  west  in  the  next  twelve 
months,  it  will  be  one  of  the  greatest  thmgs  for  the  negro  since  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation.  And  the  movement  of  a  million  negroes  should 
not  alarm  anybody,  especially  when  we  remember  that  a  million  immigrants 
were  coming  every  year  to  this  country  before  the  war. 

Let  the  good  work  go  on.  Let  every  community  in  the  North  organize 
to  get  jobs  for  our  friends  in  the  South.  Let  a  million  come.  In  coming 
the  negroes   will   get   higher   wages. 

They  will  get  first  class  schools,  running  nine  months  a  year — a  thing 
worth   leaving  the   South    for,  if   there  were  no   other  advantages. 

They  will  have  a  chance  in  the  courts.  If  they  should  happen  to  have 
a  difference  with  a  white  man,  they  will  not  take  their  lives  in  their  own 
hands  by   standing  up   for   their   side. 

They  will  be  able  to  defend  their  homes,  their  wives  and  children  in  a 
way  no  negro  can  now  protect  them  in  the  South. 

They  will  have  the  right  to  vote.  The  foreigner  must  wait  seven  years 
for  this — the  negro  only  one  year.  If  a  million  negroes  come  north,  they 
will  soon  get  sufficient  political  power,  which  combined  with  their  economic 
power  will  be  able  to  force  the  South  to  do  some  things  she  is  now 
unwilling  to  do. 

With  labor  competition  for  the  negro  between  North  and  South  with  the 
North  offering  higher  wages,  better  living  conditions,  better  education,  pro- 
tection and  a  vote,  the  South  must  bestir  herself  if  she  would  keep  the 
best  labor  in  the  world.  And  southern  statesmen  will  see  that  the  South 
must  cease  to  lynch,  begin  to  educate  and  finally  restore  the  ballot. 

"But,"  says  an  objector,  "these  negroes  coming  north  will  increase 
prejudice."  What  if  they  do?  Then  the  northern  negro  will  sympathize 
more  with  his  southern  brother.  But  if  prejudice  increases,  the  negro 
has  the  ballot  which  is  an  effective  way  to  combat  it.  If  a  million  negroes 
come  here  we  will  have  more  negro  businesses,  better  churches,  more  pro- 
fessional men  and  real  political  power,  and  the  negro  in  the  North  will 
begin  to  get  a  social  position  not  based  on  mere  charity. 


What  were  the  causes  of  migration?  A  very  large  part  of 
the  discussion  of  the  movement  was  taken  up  with  setting  forth 
the  causes.  The  Montgomery  Advertiser  was  of  the  opinion 
that  the  chief  causes  of  the  negro's  leaving  central  Alabama  were 
floods  and  the  cotton  boll  weevil: 


166  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

The  negro  from  middle  Alabama  is  going  north  because  of  economic 
conditions  which  he  can  not  help  and  which  he  can  not  overcome.  He  is 
not  being  forced  out  by  pressure  from  the  white  race.  The  relations  be- 
tween the  two  races  in  this  section  were  never  better;  the  negro  is  not 
subjected  to  oppression  or  or  to  any  outbreaks  of  violence,  which  have  in- 
duced the  negro  to  leave  certain  sections  of  the  South. 

The  negro  is  going  because  he  is  the  most  unfortunate  of  the  victims 
of  the  combined  disaster  this  year  of  the  flood  and  the  boll  weevil.  There 
have  been  actual  want  and  hunger  among  some  of  the  negroes  on  the  planta- 
tions. The  heads  of  negro  families  have  been  without  present  resources 
and  without  future  prospects.  The  wise  planter  and  farmer  has  said  to 
his  negro  employes  and  tenants : 

"You  have  not  made  anything  this  year.  I  have  not  made  anything  this 
year.  But  we  will  do  our  best  and  I  will  see  what  resources  I  can  get 
together  to  keep  you  until  next  year,  when  we  can  all  make  a  fresh  start." 

Another  class  of  farmers,  and  we  suspect  that  their  number  is  too  large, 
has  said,  "  You  never  made  anything  this  year.  I  never  made  anything 
this  year.  I  can  not  afford  to  feed  you  and  your  family  until  the  beginning 
of  the  next  crop  year.     You  must  go  out  and  shift  for  yourselves." 

This  cold  blooded  business  view  of  the  situation,  we  suspect,  has  been 
the  best  assistance  that  the  labor  agent  has  received.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  know  what  a  negro  farm  hand  will  do  when  he  and  his  family  are 
facing  hunger,  when  a  labor  agent  offers  him  a  railroad  ticket  and  a 
promise  of  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  day  in  the  industrial  works  of  the 
North  and  East.i 

Lynching  was  one  of  the  reasons  most  often  given  as  a  cause 
of  the  migration. 

Current  dispatches  from  Albany,  Georgia,  in  the  center  of  the  section 
apparently  most  affected,  and  where  efforts  are  being  made  to  stop  the 
exodus  by  spreading  correct  information  among  the  negroes,  say : 

"  The  heaviest  migration  of  negroes  has  been  from  those  counties  in 
which  there  have  been  the  worst  outbreaks  against  negroes.  It  is  developed 
by  investigation  that  where  there  have  been  lynchings,  the  negroes  have 
been  most  eager  to  believe  what  the  emigration  agents  have  told  them  of 
plots  for  the  removal  or  extermination  of  the  race.  Comparatively  few 
negroes  have  left  Dougherty  county,  which  is  considered  significant  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  this  is  one  of  the  counties  in  southwest  Georgia  in  which 
a  lynching  has  never  occurred." 

These  statements  are  most  significant.  Mob  law  we  have  known  in 
Georgia  has  furnished  emigration  agents  with  all  the  leverage  they  want ; 
it  is  a  foundation  upon  which  it  is  easy  to  build  with  a  well  conducted 
lie  or  two,  and  they  have  not  been  slow  to  take  advantage  of  it. 

This  loss  of  her  best  labor  is  another  penalty  Georgia  is  paying  for 
her  indifference  and  inactivity  in  suppressing  mob  law. 

1  The  Advertiser,   Montgomery,  Alabama,  December   12,    1916. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  167 

If  Georgia  is  injured,  agriculturally  and  industrially  by  the  negro  exodias, 
the  white  people  here  have  no  one  to  blame  but  themselves. 

The  indictment  is  true,  every  word  of  it.  The  appeal  to  humanity,  to 
fairness  and  justice  and  right,  has  been  apparently  without  effect.  It  is 
unfortunate  for  the  people  of  Georgia  that  an  appeal  to  the  pocketbook 
should  be  necessary  to  bring  back  the  enthronement  of  law,  but  if  moral 
suasion  is  powerless,  the  question  ot  personal  interest  has  entered  and 
in  no  uncertain  degree. 

The  trouble  incident  to  the  migration  of  negroes  from  Georgia  and  the 
South  is  exactly  as  stated. 

There  is  no  secret  about  what  must  be  done,  if  Georgia  would  save  herself 
from  threatened  disaster,  which,  in  some  sections,  has  already  become 
serious. 

In  the  first  place,  there  must  be  no  more  mobs.  Mobs  and  mob  spirit 
must  be  eliminated  completely,  so  completely  that  there  will  be  no  danger 
of  recurrence.  If  a  negro  be  charged  with  a  crime,  even  if  it  be  known 
that  he  is  guilty,  he  must  be  given  the  same  fair  treatment  before  the  law 
that  is  accorded  the  white  man.  If  anything,  it  would  seem  that  ignorance 
and  childishness  demand  even  more  consideration  than  the  crime  which 
lacks  that  excuse. 

But  more  than  that,  we  must  be  fair  to  the  negro.  There  is  no  use 
in  beating  about  the  bush ;  we  have  not  shown  that  fairness  in  the  past, 
nor  are  we  showing  it  today,  either  in  justice  before  the  law,  in  facilities 
accorded  for  education  or  in  other  directions.  Argue  it  as  you  will,  these 
things  which  we  have  not  done  are  the  things  which  we  must  do,  or 
Georgia  will  suffer  for  it  in  proportion  as  she  fails.^ 

In  connection  with  lynchings  there  was  the  general  fear  of 
mob  violence.  This  fear  was  taken  advantage  of  by  labor  agents, 
as  the  following  indicates : 

We  are  astonished,  too,  to  learn  that  one  of  the  reasons  for  this  unrest 
among  the  negroes  who  were  born  and  reared  here  is  fear  that  all  negroes 
are  to  be  run  out  of  Georgia.  This  idea,  of  course,  has  been  planted  in 
the  minds  of  the  simple  minded  of  the  race  by  the  crafty  and  unscrupulous 
labor  agents  who  have  operated  in  almost  every  section  of  the  State. 

The  negroes  have  this  idea  from  the  fact  that  there  are  localities  in 
the  State  right  now  where  a  negro  can  not  live.  And  we  do  not  know  of 
anybody  that  is  doing  anything  to  change  this  condition. 

Labor  agents  are  doing  their  best  to  put  the  fear  into  the  hearts  of  the 
negroes  in  this  State  that  they  are  going  to  be  run  out  by  the  white 
people,  some  of  them  even  fixing  the  time  as  next  June ;  but  this  work 
began  long  before  the  negro  exodus  north  was  thought  of.  The  example 
of  one  county  in  north  Georgia,  which  ran  every  negro  out,  was  fol- 
lowed by  other   counties   adjoining,   and   the  general  public   has   little  idea 

^Atlanta  Constitution,  December  10,  1916. 


168  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

how    widespread    the    contagion    became — for    lawlessness    is    nearly    always 
contagious. 

If  Georgia  is  injured,  agriculturally  and  industrially,  by  the  negro  exodus, 
the  white  people  here  have  no  one  to  blame  but  themselves.  They  have 
allowed  negroes  to  be  lynched,  five  at  a  time,  on  nothing  stronger  than 
suspicion;  they  have  allowed  whole  sections  to  be  depopulated  of  them; 
they  have  allowed  them  to  be  whitecapped  and  whipped,  and  their  homes 
burned,  with  only  the  weakest  and  most  spasmodic  efforts  to  apprehend 
or  punish  those  guilty — when  any  efforts  were  made  at  all. 

Has  not  the  negro  been  given  the  strongest  proof  that  he  has  no  assured 
right  to  live,  to  own  property  nor  to  expect  justice  in  Georgia? 

When  the  negro  is  gone,  his  loss  will  be  felt  in  every  large  agricultural 
section  and  every  industrial  community  of  the  South.  For  the  average 
white  man  can  not  do  the  heavier  work  at  the  sawmills,  naval  stores  plants 
and  in  many  lines  of  manufacture,  that  is  now  being  done  by  the  negro. 
As  a  consequence,  these  plants  and  many  large  plantations  must  stand  idle 
or  import  a  class  of  white  labor  that  will  be  a  great  deal  worse  than  the 
black.  Confronted  with  cheap  white  labor,  and  white  men  of  a  race  of 
which  they  have  no  understanding — then  will  the  South  have  its  labor 
problems. 

But  at  present,  it  seems,  little  can  be  done.  Unless  southern  white  people 
who  have  their  all  invested  in  agriculture  or  manufacturing  take  care  of 
their  own  interest  by  seeing  that  the  negro  gets  justice  when  suspected 
and  a  fair  trial  when  accused,  and  assured  that  so  long  as  he  behaves  he 
will  be  guaranteed  safety  of  life  and  property,  it  is  perhaps  as  well  to  let 
the  negro  go.  It  will  mean  an  industrial  revolution  for  the  South,  but  the 
present  condition  of  affairs  has  become  intolerable.^ 

The  negroes  of  the  South  used  both  the  white  and  negro 
newspapers  of  that  section  in  carrying  on  the  discussion  of 
the  migration  movement.  The  substance  of  what  the  negroes 
said  through  the  press  was  that,  first  of  all,  the  negroes  wanted 
to  stay  in  the  South  and  were  going  north  not  only  because 
there  they  could  secure  better  wages  than  were  generally  paid 
in  the  South,  but  also  because  they  would,  in  the  North,  get 
protection  and  have  privileges  not  accorded  in  the  South.  Con- 
cerning the  negro  wanting  to  stay  in  the  South,  it  was  pointed 
out  that  in  the  South  he  did  have  economic  opportunity  and 
received  encouragement.  "  The  truth  is  that  the  negroes  who 
are  leaving  the  South  in  large  numbers,  and  others  who  are 
thinking  of  going,  do  not  want  to  go.  They  prefer  to  remain 
here."  ' 

'^Georgia  Gazette,  reprint  from  Atlanta  Constitution,  December  10,   1916. 
^  Age  Herald,  Birmingham,  Alabama,   September  25,   1916. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  169 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the  passing  of  stringent  labor  laws 
would  not  stop  the  exodus.  The  negro  could  not  be  kept  in  the 
South  by  force. 

Various  communities  [said  a  negro]  are  passing  stringent  laws  with 
the  view  of  making  the  business  of  agents  either  impracticable  or  impos- 
sible. This  will  ultimately  have  the  very  opposite  effect  of  what  was 
intended.  I  am  a  negro  and  know  the  deeper  thoughts  and  feelings  of 
my  own  people.  I  know  their  yearnings  and  the  religious  zeal  with  which 
they  look  forward  to  the  future  for  better  days,  and  to  other  climes  than 
this  for  better  conditions. 

Now  to  pass  severe  laws  to  block  this  movement  will  not  only  be  a  waste 
of  time,  but  the  most  unwise  way  of  dealing  with  the  problem.  The  problem 
can  not  be  solved  from  the  angle  of  force. 

In  order  for  the  negro  to  be  kept  in  the  South  he  must  be  made  to  see, 
to  feel,  that  on  the  whole  it  will  be  better  for  him  to  remain  in  the  South 
than  to  migrate  to  the  North.  Stop  lynching.  Teach  us  to  love  the  South 
and  be  contented  here  by  ceasing  to  abridge  us  in  such  extremes  in  com- 
mon rights  and  citizenship. 

Another  method  of  helping  to  keep  the  negro  in  the  South  is  for.  the 
better  class  of  whites  to  get  hold  of  the  negroes.  In  a  word,  there  should 
be  cooperation  between  the  races.  The  negroes  should  be  given  better 
schools  and  the  whites  should  set  before  the  negroes  better  examples  of 
law  and  order.  The  North  is  offering  better  homes,  better  schools  and 
justice  before  the  law.     The  South  can  do  the  same. 

"  One  of  our  grievances,"  said  a  negro  correspondent  of  the 
Chattanooga  Times,^  "  is  that  in  colored  localities  we  have  very 
bad  streets,  no  lights,  no  sewerage  system,  and  sanitary  condi- 
tions are  necessarily  bad.  Give  the  negro  the  right  kind  of  a 
show,  living  wages,  consider  him  as  a  man,  and  he  will  be 
contented  to  remain  here." 

A  good  presentation  of  the  negroes'  side  of  the  case  is  given 
in  the  following  letter  from  a  negro  minister  to  the  Montgomery 
Advertiser.'^    He  wrote : 

Why  should  the  South  raise  such  objections  to  the  jobless  man  seeking 
the  manless  job,  especially  when  it  has  held  that  jobless  man  up  to  the 
ridicule  of  the  world  as  trifling,  shiftless  and  such  a  burden  to  the  South? 
Now  the  opportunity  has  come  to  the  negro  to  relieve  the  South  of  some 
of  its  burden,  and  at  the  same  time  advance  his  own  interests,  a  great  hue 
and  cry  is  started  that  it  must  not  be  allowed,  and  the  usual  and  foolish 
method  of  repressive  legislation  is  brought  into  play. 

1  Weldon  Victor  Jenkins,  in  Chattanooga  Times,  October  10,  1916. 

2  The  Advertiser,  Montgomery,  Alabama,  October  7,  1916. 


170  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING    THE    WAR 

Addressing  the  editor  of  the  Advertiser,  another  negro  cor- 
respondent said : 

I  have  read  with  profound  interest  the  many  articles  published  in  your 
paper   upon   the  great   negro   exodus    from   the    South. 

The  negro  has  remained  in  the  South  almost  as  a  solid  mass  since  his 
emancipation.  This  in  itself  shows  that  he  loves  the  South,  and  if  he  is 
now  migrating  to  the  East,  North  and  West  by  the  hundreds  and  thousands, 
there  must  be  a  cause  for  it.  We  should  do  our  best  to  find  out  these 
causes  and  at  least  suggest  the  remedy. 

The  time  has  come  for  plain  speaking  on  the  part  of  all.  It  will  do  us 
no  good  to  try  to  hide  the  facts,  because  "  truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise 
again."  In  the  first  place,  the  negro  in  this  country  is  oppressed.  This 
oppression  is  greatest  where  the  negro  population  is  greatest.  The  negro 
population  happens  to  be  greater  in  the  South  than  in  the  North,  there- 
fore, he  is  more  oppressed  in  the  South  than  in  the  North. 

Take  the  counties  in  our  State.  Some  are  known  as  white  counties 
and  others  as  black  counties.  In  the  white  counties  the  negro  is  given 
better  educational  opportunities  than  in  the  black  counties.  I  have  in 
mind  one  Black  Belt  county  where  the  white  child  is  given  $15  per  year 
for  his  education  and  the  negro  child  only  30  cents  a  year.  See  the 
late  Booker  T.  Washington's  article,  "Is  the  Negro  Having  a  Fair  Chance?" 
Now  these  facts  are  generally  known  throughout  this  State  by  both  white 
and  black.     And  we  all  know  that  it  is  unjust.     It  is  oppression. 

This  oppression  shows  itself  in  many  ways.  Take  for  example  the 
railroads  running  through  the  rural  sections  of  the  South.  There  are 
many  flag  stations  where  hundreds  of  our  people  get  off  and  on  the  train. 
The  railroads  have  little  stops  at  the  platform  about  six  feet  square;  only 
one  coach  stops  at  this  point ;  the  negro  women,  girls  and  boys  are  com- 
pelled to  get  off  and  on  the  train  sometimes  in  water  and  in  the  ditches 
because  there  are  no  provisions  made   for  them   otherwise. 

Again  take  the  matter  of  the  franchise.  We  all  agree  that  ignorant 
negroes  should  not  be  intrusted  with  this  power,  but  we  all  feel  that  where 
a  negro  has  been  smart  and  industrious  in  getting  an  education  and  property 
and  pays  his  taxes,  he  should  be  represented.  Taxation  without  representa- 
tion is  just  as  unjust  today  as  it  was  in  1776.  It  is  just  as  unfair  for  the 
negro  as  it  is  to  the  white  man,  and  we  all,  both  white  and  black,  know 
this.  We  may  shut  our  eyes  to  this  great  truth,  as  sometimes  we  do,  but 
it  is  unjust  just  the  same. 

Take  the  matter  of  the  courts.  There  is  no  justice  unless  the  negro  has 
a  case  against  another  negro.  When  he  has  a  case  against  a  white  man, 
you  can  tell  what  the  decision  will  be  just  as  soon  as  you  know  the  nature 
of  the  case,  unless  some  strong  white  man  will  come  to  the  negro's  rescue. 
This,  too,  is  generally  known  and  the  negro  does  not  expect  justice. 

As  yet,  there  has  been  no  concerted  action  on  the  part  of  the  white  people 
to  stop  mob  violence.  I  know  a  few  plantations,  however,  where  the  owners 
will  not  allow  their  negroes  to  be  arrested  without  the  officer  first  consult- 
ing them,  and  these  negroes  idolize  these  white  men  as  gods,  and  so  far 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  171 

not  one  of  these  negroes  has  gone  north.  I  repeat  there  are  outcroppings 
of  these  oppressions  everywhere  in  this  country,  but  they  show  themselves 
most  where  the  negroes  are  in  the  largest  numbers.  But  all  of  this  the 
negro  is  perfectly  willmg  to  endure,  and  they  all  may  be  classed  as  the 
secondary  cause  of  this  great  exodus. 

The  primary  cause  is  economic.  The  storms  and  floods  of  last  July 
and  August  destroyed  practically  all  crops  in  a  large  part  of  the  South, 
and  especially  in  the  Black  Belt  section.  These  people  are  hungry,  they 
are  naked,  they  have  no  corn  and  had  no  cotton,  so  they  are  without  food 
and  clothes.  What  else  can  they  do  but  go  away  in  search  of  work? 
There  are  a  great  many  wealthy  white  men  here  and  there  throughout 
the  Black  Belt  section.  They  have  large  plantations  which  need  the  ditches 
cleared  and  new  ones  made  to  properly  drain  their  farms.  They  could 
have  given  work  to  these  destitute  people;  but  what  have  they  done? 
Nothing.  They  say  that  it  is  a  pity  for  the  negro  to  go  away  in  such 
large  numbers,  and  so  it  is,  but  that  will  not  stop  them.  They  have  it 
in  their  power  to  stop  them  by  making  the  negro's  economic  condition  better 
here. 

Thus  far  the  average  white  man  of  the  South  has  been  interested  in 
the  negro  from  a  selfish  point  of  view ;  he  must  now  become  interested 
in  him  from  a  humanitarian  point  of  view.  He  must  be  interested  in  his 
educational,  moral  and  religious  welfare.  We  know  that  we  have  many 
ignorant,  vicious  and  criminal  negroes  which  are  a  disgrace  to  any  people, 
but  they  are  ignorant  because  they  have  not  had  a  chance.  Why,  I  know 
one  county  in  this  State  today  with  10,000  negro  children  of  school  age, 
and  only  4,000  of  these  are  in  school,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Education.  We  can  not  expect  ignorant  people  to  act  hke 
intelligent  ones,   and  no  amount   of   abuse  will  make  them  better. 

Sometimes  we  hear  it  said  that  the  white  man  of  the  South  knows  the 
negro  better  than  anybody  else,  but  the  average  white  man  of  the  South 
only  knows  the  ignorant,  vicious  and  criminal  negro  better  than  anybody 
else.  He  knows  little  of  the  best  class  of  negroes.  I  am  glad  to  say, 
however,  that  there  are  a  few  southern  white  men  who  know  the  better 
class,  and  know  them  intimately,  and  are  doing  what  they  can  to  better 
the  negro's  condition.  I  would  to  God  that  the  number  of  these  few  could 
be  increased  a  hundredfold.^ 

R.  R.  Wright,  President  of  the  Georgia  State  Industrial  Col- 
lege for  Negroes,  in  a  discussion  of  the  causes  of  the  migration 
movement  stated  that  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  high 
wages  offered  is  the  main  cause.  There  are  other  aiding  causes, 
however,  for  this  movement  besides  low  wages. 

Naturally  the  negro  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  a  southern  cli- 

1  W.  J.  Edwards,  Principal  of  Snow  Hill  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute 
(Colored),  Snow  Hill,  Alabama,  in  the  Advertiser,  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
January  27,  1917. 


172  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE   WAR 

mate  and  prefers  to  remain  in  the  South.  He  has  made  his  best 
progress  in  the  South.  There  are  nearly  a  miUion  negro  farm 
operators  and  most  of  them  are  in  the  South,  The  total  acreage 
of  their  farms  is  42,279,510:  valued  at  $1,141,792,526.  In 
the  value  of  farms  operated  there  was  an  increase  of  128.5  per 
cent,  during  the  last  census  decade,  while  the  value  of  farm 
property  operated  by  white  farmers  for  the  same  time  increased 
only  99.6  per  cent.  The  negro  is  prospering  in  the  South.  Now 
this  and  other  facts  constitute  for  the  negro  a  strong  tie  to 
the  southern  soil. 

This  tie  should  not  be  broken  lightly.  The  negro  does  not  want  to  leave 
the  South.  The  only  thing  to  break  this  tie  is  unfair  and  cruel  treatment 
of  the  negro  on  the  part  of  the  white  man.  In  this  connection  our  white 
friends  should  know  that  not  only  in  the  lynchings,  and  in  the  courts 
and  in  the  unwholesome  conditions  on  the  southern  railway  common  carriers 
(as  vital  as  these  are),  but  that  in  the  general  attitude  of  many  of  our 
southern  white  people,  there  is  exhibited  a  contempt  for  the  negro  which 
makes  the  best  of  the  negroes  feel  that  they  are  only  tolerated  in  the 
South.  And  yet  in  their  individual  relations  there  is  no  better  friend  to  the 
negro  in  the  world  than  the  southern  white  man.  In  the  face  of  our 
friends  it  is  hard  to  explain  this  discounting  and  this  contemptuous  attitude, 
and  yet  everybody  understands  that  it  exists.  "  You  are  only  a  negro 
and  are  not  entitled  to  the  courteous  treatment  accorded  to  members  of 
other  races."  Another  cause  is  the  feeling  of  insecurity.  The  lack  of 
legal  protection  in  the  country  is  a  constant  nightmare  to  the  colored 
people  who  are  trying  to  accumulate  a  comfortable  little  home  and  farm. 

There  is  scarcely  a  negro  mother  in  the  country  who  does  not  live  in 
dread  and  fear  that  her  husband  or  son  may  come  in  unfriendly  contact 
with  some  white  person  so  as  to  bring  the  lynchers  or  the  arresting  officers 
to  her  door,  which  may  result  in  the  wiping  out  of  her  entire  family.  It 
must  be  acknowledged  that  this  is  a  sad  condition. 

The  southern  white  man  ought  to  be  willing  to  give  the  negro  a  man's 
chance  without  regard  to  his  race  or  color ;  give  him  at  least  the  same 
protection  of  law  given  to  any  one  else.  If  he  will  not  do  this,  the  negro 
must  seek  those  north  or  west  who  will  give  him  better  wages  and  better 
treatment.! 

One  of  the  most  thoughtful  discussions  of  the  causes  of 
migration  was  by  W.  T,  Andrews,  a  negro  lawyer  and  editor, 
formerly  of  Sumter,  South  Carolina.  In  an  address  before  the 
1917  South  Carolina  Race  Conference  he  said: 

^  Reprinted  from  the  Morning  News,  Savannah,  Georgia,  January  3,  1917. 


PUBLIC    OPINION    REGARDING    THE    MIGRATION  173 

In  my  view  the  chief  causes  of  negro  unrest  and  disturbance  are  as 
follows:  the  destruction  of  his  political  privileges  and  curtailment  of  his 
civil  rights ;  no  protection  of  life,  liberty  and  property  under  the  law ; 
Jim  Crow  car;  residential  and  labor  segregation  laws;  no  educational 
facilities  worthy  of  the  name  in  most  of  the  southern  States.  These,  I 
believe,  are  the  most  potent  causes  which  are  now  impelling  the  southern 
negro  to  seek  employment  and  find  homes  in  northern  and  western  sections 
of  the  country. 

In  South  Carolina,  and  I  believe  it  is  equally  true  of  every  southern 
State,  except  those  classed  as  "border  States,"  statute  after  statute  has 
been  passed  to  curtail  the  rights  of  the  negro,  but  in  not  a  single  instance 
can  a  law  be  pointed  to  which  was  enacted  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging 
his  opportunity,  surrounding  himself  and  his  family  with  the  protection 
of  the  law,  or  for  the  betterment  of  his  condition.  On  the  contrary  every 
law  passed  relating  to  the  negro  has  been  passed  with  the  intent  of  con- 
trolling his  labor  and  drawing  his  circle  of  freedom  into  smaller  and  smaller 
compass. 

In  the  rural  districts  the  negro  is  not  only  at  the  mercy  of  the  lawless 
white  individual  citizen,  but  equally  at  the  mercy  of  the  rural  police,  the 
constables  and  magistrates.  There  is  hardly  a  record  in  modern  history 
of  greater  oppression  by  judicial  officers  than  that  dealt  to  the  negroes  by 
a  large  majority  of  the  magistrates  and  other  officials  who  preside  over 
the  inferior  courts  of  South  Carolina. 

In  towns  and  cities,  as  a  rule,  mayors'  and  recorders'  courts  are  mills 
for  grindmg  out  negro  convicts ;  negroes  charged  with  petty  offenses  are 
brought  into  these  courts,  convicted  and  sentenced  with  lightning  speed, 
before  they  even  realize  that  they  are  on  trial  unless  they  are  able  to  hire 
attorneys,  whose  fees  often  equal  the  fine  that  would  be  imposed.  They 
are  beaten  at  will  by  arresting  officers,  frequently  shot  and  many  killed 
if  attempt  is  made  to  escape  by  running  away  from  the  officer,  and  for 
any  such  shooting,  officers  are  seldom  put  to  the  inconvenience  of  trial, 
even  if  the  victim  die. 

In  tragic  truth  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  in  the  South — South 
Carolina,  more  certainly — no  protection  for  the  life  or  person  of  any  negro 
of  whatever  standmg,  sex,  age,  against  the  intent  of  the  bloody-minded 
white  man. 

The  negro  does  not  ask  for  special  privileges  or  social  legislation  in  his 
behalf.  He  does  not  ask  to  be  measured  by  any  standard  less  than 
the  white  man's  standard,  but  he  insists  that  the  same  test  shall  apply  to 
all  men  of  all  races.  He  refuses  to  accept  the  declaration  of  men  who  claim 
to  be  earthly  agents  and  representatives  of  the  Almighty,  the  interpreters 
of  His  will  and  laws,  and  who  solemnly  assert  that  the  God  of  the  Chris- 
tian ordained  and  decreed  the  negro  race  to  be  in  slavery  or  semislavery 
to  the  white  race. 

The  negro  believes  that  the  world  is  built  on  a  moral  foundation  with 
justice  as  its  basic  rock.  He  believes  that  the  Almighty  is  just,  merciful 
and  benevolent,  and  that  He  included  all  men  in  His  plan  of  human  devel- 
opment and  reaching  out  for  protection. 


174  NEGRO    MIGRATION    DURING   THE   WAR 

He  asks  only  for  justice.  Nothing  less  than  justice  will  stay  the  move- 
ment of  negroes  from  the  South.  Its  continued  refusal  will  drive  in  the 
next  two  years  a  third  or  more  of  its  negro  population  to  other  portions 
of  the  country.^ 

1  From  an  address  by  W.  T.  Andrews  at  the  South  Carolina  Race  Con- 
ference, Columbia,  South  Carolina,  February  8,  1917. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Books  and  Periodicals 

A  Century  of  Negro  Migration.     C.  G.  Woodson,  Washington,   1918. 

The  Negro  Migrant  in  Pittsburgh.     Abraham  Epstein,  Pittsburgh,  1918. 

Negro  Newcomers  in  Detroit.     G.  E.  Haynes,  New  York,  1918. 

The  Migration  of  a  Race,  1916-1917,  Annual  Report  of  National  League  on 
Urban  Conditions  among  Negroes. 

The  1917  Report  of  the  Chicago  Branch  of  the  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes. 

Negro  Migration:  What  Does  It  Mean?    Gilbert  N.  Brink  (pamphlet  issued 
by  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society.  New  York). 

Negro  Migration.     Nezv  Republic,  January  1,  1916. 

How  the  War  Brings  Unprophesied  Opportunities  to  the  Negro  Race.     Cur- 
rent Opinion,  December,   1916. 

Negro  Moving  North.     Literary  Digest,  October  7.  1916. 

Cotton  Pickers  in  Northern  Cities.     H.  B.  Pendleton,  Survey,  February  17, 
1917. 

Exodus  in  America.     Living  Age,  October  6,  1917. 

Lure  of  the  North  for  Negroes.    Survey,  April  7,  1917. 

Negroes  Come  North.     K.  Moses,  Forum,  August,  1917. 

Negroes  Go  North.     R.  S.  Baker,  World's  Work,  July.  1917. 

Negro  Migration.     P.  H.   Stone,  Outlook,  August  1,  1917. 

Negro  Migration  as  the  South  Sees  It.     Survey,  August  11,  1917. 

Passing  of  the  Jim  Crow.    W.  E.  B.  DuBois,  Independent,  July  14,  1917. 

Reasons   Why  Negroes   Go   North.     Survey,  June  2,    1917. 

South  Calling  Negroes  Back.     Literary  Digest,  June  23,  1917, 

Southern   Negroes   ]\Ioving  North.     World's   Work,  June,   1917. 

Welcoming    Southern    Negroes ;    East    St.    Louis    and    Detroit    a    Contrast. 
F.   B.   Washington,  Survey,  July   14,   1917. 

When  Labor  Is  Cheap.     B.  M.  Edens,  Survey,  September  8,  1917. 

Interstate  Migration.    W.  O.  Scroggs,  Journal  Political  Economy,  December, 
1917. 

Negroes  Move  North.     G.  E.  Haynes,  Survey,  May  4,  1918. 

Negroes  a  Source  of  Industrial  Labor.  D.  T.  Farnham,  Industrial  Manage- 
ment, August,  1918. 

Negro  Welfare  Workers  in  Pittsburgh.     Survey,  August  3,  1918. 

Negroes  and  Organized  Labor.     Survey.  February  9,   1918. 

Negro    and    the    New    Economic    Conditions.      R.    R.    Moton,    Proceedings 
National    Conference   of    Social    Workers,    1917. 

Migration  of  Negroes  into  Northern  Cities.     G.  E.  Haynes,  National  Con- 
ference of  Social  Workers,  1917. 

Progress  of  Work  for  the  Assimilation  of  Negro  Immigrants  in  Northern 
Cities.    F.  B.  Washington,  National  Conference  of  Social  Workers,  1917. 

Negro  Migration.     Ralph  W.  Tyler,  Pearsons,  November,  1917. 

Southern  Labor  as  Affected  by  the  War  and  Migration.     Monroe  N.  Work, 
Proceedings  of  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  1918. 

The  Duty  of  Southern  Labor  during  the  War.     R.  R.  Moton,  Proceedings 
Southern    Sociological    Congress,    1918. 

The  Foundation   (Atlanta),  May-June,  1917. 

175 


176  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A.  M.  E.  Church  Review   (Philadelphia),  January,  1917;  April,  1918. 

Voice  of   Missions    (New  \ork  City),  June,   1917. 

Causes  of   Migration   from  the  South.     W.  T.  Andrews,   Address  at  Race 

Conference,  Columbia  (S.  C),  February  8,  1917.     Specially  printed. 
The  Massacre  of  East  St.  Louis.     Martha  Gruening  and  W.  E.  B.  DuBois, 

The  Crisis,   September,   1917. 
The  Crisis,  October,   1916,  page  270;  June,   1917,  pages  63,  65. 
The  Nation,    September  6 ;   December  7,   1916. 

The  Problem  of  the  Negro  Laborer.    Iron  Trade  Review,  April  12,  1917. 
Negro   Migration  Ebbs.     Iron   Trade  Review,  December   13,   1917. 
Proceedings  of  Annual  Convention  of  Federation  of  Labor,  1916,  1917,  1918. 

Newspapers 

(References  for  1915,  1916,  1917,  1918) i 

Akron   (Ohio)   Press,  July  12,  1917. 

Albany    (N.  Y.)    Argus,   Nov.   12,   1916. 

Albany   (N.  Y.)   Journal,  August  6,  1917. 

Albany  (N.  Y.)  Knickerbocker  Press,  Dec.  21,  1916;  Mar.  11,  26,  1917. 

Amsterdam    (New    York    City)    News,    May    28,    June    18,    1915;    Apr.    17, 

July  14,  Aug.  18,  Oct.  1,  Dec.  13,  1916:  Jan.  24,  Aug.  1,  1917;  Apr.  10, 

May  1,  June  5,  July  10,  24,  Sept.  18,  Oct.  2,  1918. 
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Ashland   (Ohio)    Press,  Aug.  22,  1917. 
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26,  31,  May  14,  23,  26,  27,  29-31,  June  5,  6,  11,  16,  July  7,  13-15,  Aug.  13, 

30,  Sept.  1,  Oct.  24-26,  Nov.  11,  21,  1917;  Feb.  27,  Mar.  2,  Apr.  2,  4-6, 

9,   17,  20,  24,  25,   May  2,   7,   10,   21,  26,   27,   June  2,   7,   8,    18,  22,  29, 

July  10,  15,  16,  18,  19,  25,  27,  28,  Aug.  2-4,  10,  15,  19,  21,  25,  26,  30, 

Sept.  1,  21,  1918. 
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19,  26,  June  30,  July  21,  1917;  Mar.  22,  July  20,  27,  Aug.  3,  17,  31,  1918. 
Atlanta   (Ga.)   Journal,  Oct.  8,  1917,  Mar.  28,  1918. 
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Augusta   (Ga.)    Chronicle,  Feb.  18,  19,  Dec.  9,  1917;  Mar.  29,  1918. 
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Baltimore  Afro-American,  Jan.  26,  Sept.  29,  1917;  Apr.  19,  May  24,  June  21, 

1918. 
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1917;   Mar.  13,   1918. 
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Mar.  21,  Apr.  2,  Dec.  24,  1917. 
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1  The  newspaper  discussion  of  the  migration  had  its  beginning  in  1915 
in  statements  about  the  conditions  of  negro  labor  in  the  South  and  the 
outlook  for  it  in  the  North.  The  discussion  was  continued  in  the  1918  news- 
papers. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  177 

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Boston    Guardian,    May   6,    Aug.   22,   27,    Oct.    10,    1916;    Feb.   3,   June    16, 

Aug.  4,  25,  Oct.  6,  1917. 
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Boston  Post,  Feb.  26,  1917. 

Boston  Transcript,  July  13,  Dec.  15,  1916;  Mar.  10,  31,  Apr.  3,  July  3,  7,  1917. 
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Buffalo   (N.  Y.)   Courier,  Sept.  16,  1917. 
Buffalo   (N.  Y.)   Express,  Apr.  14,  Oct.  23,  Nov.  17,  Dec.  7,  1916;  June  15, 

1917;  Apr.  2,  1918. 
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Buffalo   (N.  Y.)  Times,  Dec.  7,  1916;  Nov.  20,  1917. 
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Jan.  2,  Feb.  1,  23,  Mar.  14,  1917. 
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June  21,  Sept.  21,  1918. 
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every  issue  for  1917;  almost  every  issue  to  Oct.,  1918. 
Chicago  Examiner,   Oct.  9,   1916;   Mar.  30,  July  19,   1917. 
Chicago  Herald,  Oct.  13,  1916;  Mar.  4,  19,  July  3,  5,  Oct.  10,  Nov.  17,  1917. 
Chicago  Idea,  June  30,  1917. 
Chicago  Journal,  May  30,  July  19,  1918. 
Chicago   News,   Dec.    11,   13,    1916;   Jan.   13.   Mar.  20,  30,  Apr,  21,  July  31, 

Sept.  14,  1917;  Jan.  15,  Apr.  29,  July  13,  Aug.  7,  1918. 
Chicago  Tribune,  July  25.   1916;   June  9,  July  8,   10,  26,   Sept.   14,  Oct.  27, 

1917;   February  13,  1918. 
Christian  Century  (Chicago),  July  25,  1918. 
Christian  Index   (Jackson,  Tenn.),  June  21,  July  19,  Oct.  18,  1917;  Feb.  21, 

Aug.  8,  1918. 
Christian  Recorder  (Philadelphia),  Aug.  3,  17,  Sept.  14,  Oct.  26,  Nov.  9,  15, 

Dec.  21,  1916:  Jan.  4,  Feb.  1,  Mar.  10,  June  7  (special  edition),  Aug.  2, 

Sept.  20,  27,  1917;  Jan.  24,  Mar.  28,  Apr.  11,  25,  May  9,  Aug.  1,  8,  15,  22, 

Sept.  19,-  1918. 
Cincinnati  Commercial  Tribune,  Aug.  5,  10,  Dec.  5,  1917;  June  11,  1918. 
Cincinnati  Enquirer,  Aug.  23,  Oct.  30,  1916;   Feb.  28,  Mar.  26,   Sept.  8,  12, 

1917:  July  31,  1918. 
Cincinnati  Post,  Oct.  5,  1917. 
Cincinnati    Star,    Sept.    12,    1917. 
Cincinnati  Union,   Sept.  15,   1917. 
Cleveland  Advocate,  Oct.  5,  Sept.  14,  1915:  Aug.  10,  Nov.  11,  1917;  Mar.  30, 

June  8.  July  4,  27,  Aug.  3,  10,  17,  1918. 
Cleveland  Leader,  June  7,  Dec.  8,  1916 ;  July  10,  1917. 
Cleveland  News,  Aug.  11,  1917. 
Cleveland   Plain    Dealer,   Oct.   19,   1916;   Aug.  4,   Sept.   12,   Oct.  25,   Dec.  6, 

1917;  Feb.  14,  1918. 


178  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Cleveland  Press,  Apr.  18,  Oct.  25,  1917. 

Columbia   (S.  C.)   State,  Oct.  2,  3,  7,  19,  23,  Nov.  1,  15,  Dec.  17,  22,  1916; 

Jan.  8,  Feb.  2,  Mar.  2,  July  15,  Oct.  20,  Dec.  10,  1917 ;  Mar  10,  1918. 
Columbus    (Ohio)    Citizen,  July  7,   Aug.  7,   Sept.  24,   1917. 
Columbus    (Ohio)    Dispatch,  July  8,  Aug.   1,  20,   Sept.  3,  20,  1917;   May  8, 

June  30,  1918. 
Columbus    (Ga.)    Enquirer-Sun,  Nov.  21,  Dec.  2,  17,  1916. 
Columbus    (Ohio)    State   Journal,   Aug.   2,   21,   22,    Oct.    10,    Nov.   8,    1917; 

Aug.  6,  1918. 
Cumberland  (Md.)  Times,  July  7,  1917;  Apr.  9,  1918. 
Dallas    (Tex.)    Baptist  Standard,  Aug.   17,  1916. 
Dallas    (Tex.)    Democrat,  July  28,    1917. 

Dallas   (Tex.)   Express,  July  14,  21,  Aug.  11,  25.  1917;  July  20,  1918. 
Dallas   (Tex.)  Journal,  May  10,  June  7,  Sept.  24,  1918. 
Dallas  (Tex.)   New  Era,  June  14,  1917. 
Dallas   (Tex.)   News,  Aug.  1,  1917;  May  14,  16,  1918. 
Dayton    (Ohio)    News,  July  7,  30,  Aug.   1,   1917;    May  7,  1918. 
Deep  River  (Conn.)   Era,  Nov.  9.  1918. 
Denver  (Col.)   Star,  July  28,  1917. 
Detroit  Free  Press,  June  18,  Nov.-  6,  Oct.  23,  1916;  Sept.  7,  1917;  Mar.  23, 

Apr.  27,  Sept.  28,  1918. 
Detroit  Journal,   Nov.  15,  1916;  June  20,  Aug.  6,  1917. 
Detroit  News,  Aug.  12,  1916;  Oct.  21,  1917;  Apr.  2,  7,  May  19,  25,  Sept.  13, 

16,   1918. 
Detroit  News  Tribune,  Aug.  12,  Nov.  19,  1916. 
Detroit  Times,  Apr.  12,  20,  June  29,  1918. 
Dublin    (Ga.)    Herald,  July  26,  1917. 
Duluth    (Minn.)    News  Tribune,  Oct.  9,  Nov.  9,  1916. 
Elizabeth  City    (N.  C.)    Independent,   Nov.  30,   1917. 
Elmira  (N.  Y.)  Advertiser,  Feb.  9,  1917. 
Evansville   (Ind.)    Courier,  June  21,  1917. 
Fort  Wayne   (Ind.)   Journal-Gazette,  Oct.  22,  1916;  Oct.   11,  1917;  Aug.  22, 

1918. 
Forth  Worth  (Tex.)  Star-Telegram,  Oct.  16,  1917. 
Fort  Worth    (Tex.)    Record,  Oct.  6,   1916;   Mar.  27,  July  22,  Nov.  3,   1917; 

May  4,  Aug.  11,  Sept.  22.  1918. 
Galveston    (Tex.)    News,   July    11,   Aug.  3,    12,   17,    1917;   Jan.  6,    Sept.   20, 

1918. 
Grand  Rapids  (Mich.)   Press,  Sept.  10,  1917. 

Greenville  (S.  C.)   News,  Apr.  3,  1^16;  Mar.  29,  June  18,  Sept.  10,  1917. 
Hackensack  (N.  J.)   Record,  Apr.  4,  1917. 
Harrisburg    (Pa.)    Patriot,   July  7,    1917. 
Hartford    (Conn.)    Courant,  Aug.  7,  Dec.  18,  1916;  Feb.  15,  Sept.  19,  1917; 

Feb.  22,  25,  Mar.  17,  1918. 
Hartford  (Conn.)   Post,  Mar.  17,  Sept.  15,  18,  Oct.  9,  15,  17,  18,  1917. 
Hartford    (Conn.)    Times,  Jan.   11,  July   12,  Oct.  9,  1917;  Apr.  23,  May  24, 

1918. 
Henderson    (Ky.)    Gleaner,   Aug.  24,    1916. 
Hoboken    (N.  J.)    Observer,  Oct.  18,  1917. 

Hotel  Gazette   (New  York  City),  Oct.  20,  1917;  July  13,  20,  1918. 
Houston   (Tex.)    Chronicle,  July  22,  1917. 
Houston    (Tex.)    Observer,   Oct.  21,   1916;   July  7,   Oct.  27,    1917;    May   18, 

21,  June  8,  Aug.  3,  17,  1918. 
Houston    (Tex.)    Post,    files    for    1916;    files    for    1917;    June   20,    July   29, 

Aug.  31,  1918. 
Houston   (Tex.)    Press,  Aug.  14,  1917. 
Holyoke   (Mass.)   Transcript,  July  10,  28,  1917. 
Indianapolis   Freeman,   Nov.  26,  Dec.  9,   1916;   Jan.  6,   13,   Mar.  31,  June  2, 

Oct.  13,  27,  1917 ;  Feb.  9,  Mar.  2,  May  25,  June  6.  29,  July  26,  1918. 
Indianapolis  Ledger,  July  16,  Sept.  9,  1916;  June  9,  1917. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  179 

Indianapolis   News,   Nov.  9,   1915;    Nov.   16,  22,  24,    Dec.  8,   1916;   Jan.  23, 

1917;  June  7,  July  24,  31,  1918. 
Indianapolis  Star,  Sept.  21,  1918. 
Indianapolis  World,  Dec.  9,   1916. 
Jacksonville   (Fla.)    Metropolis,  Dec.  22,  1916. 
Jacksonville  (Fla.)   Times  Union,  Aug.  14,  Nov.  10,  Dec.  22,  1916;  Jan.  20, 

1917;   Apr.  4,  1918. 
Jackson  (Miss.)   News,  June  12,  Nov.  11,  1917;  May  7,  1918. 
Jersey  City  (N.  J.)  Journal,  June  30,  Oct.  10,  18,  1917;  July  19,  1918. 
Johnstown    (Pa.)    Democrat,  Nov.  2,  1916. 
Kansas   City    (Kan.)    Globe,   Aug.  25,   1917. 

Kansas  City  (Mo.)   Star,  Aug.  17,  1916;  Mar.  11,  1917;  Mar.  9,  1918. 
Kansas  City  (Mo.)   Sun,  Aug.  11,  Sept.  8,  1917. 
Kansas   City    (Mo.)    Times,   Apr.  6,  1918. 
Knoxville  (Tenn.)  Journal-Tribune,  Aug.  3,  Sept.  23,  1916. 
Lancaster  (Pa.)  Labor  Leader,  Sept.  1,  1917. 
Louisville  Courier  Journal,  July  18,  Dec.  5,  1916;  Mar.  28,  1917;  Aug.  4,  5, 

7,  1918. 
Louisville  News,  Sept.  9,  1916;  Sept.  15,  22,  1917;  Feb.  23,  Mar.  9.  June  1, 

July  6,  1918. 
Louisville  Times,  Sept.  29,  1916;  Aug.  6,  14,  16,  Sept.  11,  1918. 
Macon  (Ga.)   News,  Feb.  14,  Apr.  30,  ]May  5,  Aug.  27,  Sept.  1,  29,  1918. 
Macon   (Ga.)   Telegraph,  Sept.  5,  Oct.  10,  1916;  Feb.  18,  Mar.  18,  June  14, 

Nov.  21,  1917;  Jan.  28,  Aug.  7,  17,  Sept.  3.  22,  1918. 
Manufacturers  Record    (Baltimore),  June  29,  1916. 
Marietta   (Ohio)   Leader,  Aug.  7,  1917. 
Mason   City    (Iowa)    Globe-Gazette,   Oct.   24,    1917. 
Memphis    Commercial    Appeal,   Aug.   20,    Oct.   5,   24,    1916;    Sept.   9,    1917; 

Jan.  5,  Apr.  6,  May  1,  9,  27,  1918. 
Memphis  Press,  July  5,  1917 ;  Apr.  4,  Sept.  20,  1918. 
Meridian   (Miss.)   Dispatch,  June  25,  1918. 
Meridian   (Miss.)    Star,  Jan.  4,  Aug.  7,  1917. 
Michigan  Tradesman  (Grand  Rapids),  Dec.  12,  1917. 
Milwaukee   (Wis.)   Journal,  Jan.  11,  1917;  May  30,   1918. 
Milwaukee   (Wis.)    Leader,  July   13,   1917;   Mar.  29,  1918. 
Milwaukee   (Wis.)    Sentinel,  Sept.  22.  1916;  July  27,  Oct.  5,  1917. 
Milwaukee   (Wis.)   Wisconsin,  Oct.  3,  1916. 

Minneapolis   (Minn.)   Journal,  July  12.  1917;  June  11.  12,  13,  14,  1918. 
Mobile   (Ala.)   Register.  Jan.  4,  Aug.  19,  1917;  Apr.  27,  1918. 
Montgomery  (Ala.)  Advertiser,  Jan.  5,  1915;  Mar.  5,  17,  Aug.  5,  9,  20,  23,  24, 

Sept.   10,  15.   17,   19-21,  24,  27.  29.  Oct.  4,   16,  25,  29,  Nov.  5,  7,  8.  22, 

Dec.  7,  9,   10,   12,   17.   19,  21.  27.  31.   1916;  Jan.  6,  9.   13.   16.  23,  25,  27, 

Feb.  1.  7,  14,  Mar.  2,  Apr.  22,  May  5,  12,  21,  24.  30,  31,  June  1,  2,  6.  11, 

Sept.  26,  Oct.  1,  1917;  Jan.  20,  Feb.  3.  8,  10,  18,  Apr.  23-26.  29,  May  2, 

4,  6,  27,  June  2,  3,  6,  18,  Zl ,  29,  July  5,  26,  31,  Aug.  1-3,  10,  11,  23,  27, 

Sept.  4.   13,   1918. 
Nashville  (Tenn.)   Banner.  Aug.  31,  Nov.  4,  14,  17,  1916;  Mar.  1,  28,  Oct.  7, 

Nov.  25,  1917;  June  15.  1918. 
Nashville   (Tenn.)    Globe,  Apr.  20,  1917;  Feb.   IS,  Mar.  29.  1918. 
Nashville   (Tenn.)   Tennesseean.  Aug.  27,  Sept.  1,  Oct.  2,  22,  1916. 
National  Enquirer,  July  25,  1918. 
Newark   (N.  J.)   Ledger,  Apr.  11,  18,  1918. 
Newark   (N.  J.)    News.  Mar.   10.  17,  29,  Sept.  24,  28,  Oct.  2,  10,  30,   1917; 

Feb.  20,   Mar.  26,  Apr.  9,  July   19,   Sept.  28,   1918. 
Newark  (N.  J.)  Star,  July  31,  1915;  Nov.  20,  1916;  Oct.  5,  9,  Nov.  6,  9,  1917. 
New   Bedford    (Mass.)    Mercury,  July  20.   1917. 
New  Bedford    (Mass.)    Standard,  July  19.   1917. 
New  Britain   (Conn.)   Herald,  Sept.  11,  1917. 
New  Haven   (Conn.)   Register,  Sept.  11,  1917. 
New  Orleans  Item,  Sept.  8,  11,  1917;  Feb.  10,  Mar.  31,  May  13,  15,  20,  1918. 


180  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

New  Orleans  Times-Picayune,  Oct.  1,  19,  26.  Nov.  10,  28,  Dec.  9,  12,  IS,  18. 

1916;  Jan.   1,   14,  Mar.  9,  24,  June  13,   Sept.  4,  8,  15,  21,  Oct.  5,   1917; 

Apr.  7,  30,  May  12,  16,  June  14,  Sept.  21,  1918. 
New  Orleans  States,  Julv  24,  Aug.  7,  28,  Oct.  10,  1916;  Nov.  3,  1917;  Jan.  21, 

Apr.  6,  July  23,  1918. 
Newport    (R.  I.)    News,  Sept.  1,  1917. 

New   Philadelphia    (Ohio)    Times,   Oct.  26,   1917;    Mar.   17.   1918. 
New    York   Age,    Feb.    11,    18,    Mar.   4,    May    11,   Aug.    19,    1915;    May   24, 

July  20,  27,  Aug.  24,  31,  Sept.  14,  Oct.  26,  Nov.  15,  23,  30,  Dec.  14,  21. 

1916;  Jan.  4,  11,  Feb.  1,  8.  15,  22,  Mar.  1,  15,  22.  Apr.  5,  19,  May  3,  10,  24. 

June  7,  14,  21,  July  5,  26,  Aug.  21,  Sept.  20,  Oct.  10,  11,  18,  Nov.  1,  8,  22,  29. 

Dec.  22,  1917;  Jan.  26,  29,  Feb.  9,  16,  Mar.  2,  9,  23,  30,  Apr.  6,  20,  21,  27, 

May  4,  11,  18,  25,  June  2,  8,  20,  22,  29,  July  6,  13,  15,  Aug.  10,  Sept.  14, 

21,  28,  Oct.  5,  1918. 
New  York  American.  July  16,  17,  Aug.  12,  Sept.  20,  1917;  June  23,  1918. 
New   York   Call,   Feb.  28,   Sept.   15,   1915;    Sept.  30,   Oct.   10,   Nov.   16,  29. 

Dec.  3,   1916;  July   1,   Aug.  8,  9,   Sept.  28,   Nov.   13,  22,   1917;   Mar.  S, 

Apr.  26,  May  30,  June  8,  24,  Aug.  26,  1918. 
New  York  Commerce  and  Finance,  Sept.  13,  Nov.  8,  1916;  Mar.  27,  1918. 
New  York  Commercial,  Oct.  24,  1916;  July  14,  1917. 
New  York   Globe,   Feb.   10,   18,   Mar.   12,   1915;  July  31,   Oct.  25,   Nov.   13, 

Dec.  6,  1916;   Mar.   19,  Apr.  9,   Aug.  20,  Oct.  9,   1917;  June  5,  Oct.   1, 

1918. 
New  York  Herald,  June  10,  1917. 

New  York  Journal,  July  14,  Aug.  25,  27,  Oct.  12,  1916;  Oct.  4,  11,  1917. 
New   York  Journal  of   Commerce,   Aug.    14,   1917. 
New   York    Mail,    Feb.   27,    1915;    Nov.    1,    1916;    Aug.    1,    Sept.   20,    1917; 

Feb.  6,  12,  Mar.  11,  15,  18,  Apr.  30,  July  1,  May  3,  1918. 
New  York  News,  Mar.  4,  1915;  Apr.  13,  Sept.  11,  29,  Dec.  21,  1916;  Jan.  25, 

Oct.  10,  1917;  Feb.  14,  Mar.  23,  Apr.  10,  11,  25,  Aug.  22,  1918. 
New  York  Post,  Dec.  28,  1915 ;  Oct.  5,  Nov.  17,  Dec.  1,  4,  16,  1916 ;  Feb.  3. 

July   13,   14,   16,   Sept.   19,  20,   Oct.   15,  25,  29,   1917;   Jan.   31,   Feb.   15, 

June  22,  Sept.  25,  1918. 
New  York  Sun,   Mar.  27,  Nov.  19,  22,   1916:  Jan.   15,  20,  Mar.  21,  Apr.  4, 

July  2,   Aug.   7,    10,    15,    Sept.   21,   Oct.   5,    Nov.    19,  21,    1917;   Jan.   31, 

May  1,  17,  June  19,  July  1,  2,  7,  Sept.  17,  22,  1918. 
New  York  Telegram,   Nov.    16,   1916;    Sept.  9,   1918. 
New  York  Times,  June  11,  Aug.  17,  Sept.  10,  Oct.  21,  Nov.  5,  12,  Dec.  17,  1916; 

Oct.  7,  1917;  Jan.  21,  Feb.  1,  May  25.  1918. 
New  York  Tribune,  Oct.  22,  Dec.  24,   1916;   Julv  2,  21,  31,   Oct.   16,   1917; 

Jan.  6,  May   11,  22,  Aug.  26,   Sept.  22,   1918. 
New  York  World,  Oct.  29,   Nov.  12,  19,  1916;   Mar.  21,   1917;   Feb.   14,  23, 

Apr.   14,   18,   May  21,  June  23,  25,   1918. 
Norfolk   (Va.)   Journal  and  Guide,  Sept.  9,  Oct.  2,  Nov.  18,  25,  Dec.  2,  16, 

1916;   Jan.  23,   Feb.  2,  24,   Mar.   3,   17,  24,   Apr.    14,   May   12,  June   30, 

July  7,  25,  28,  Sept.  11,  15.  22,  29,  Oct.  6,  13,  20,  Dec.  1,  1917;  Feb.  2,  9,  16, 

Mar.  10,  23,  30,  July  13.  Aug.  10,  1918. 
Norfolk   (Va.)   Virginian-Pilot,  Oct.  20,  1916;  Oct.  19,  1917;  May  14,  1918. 
Oakland   (Cal.)   Tribune,  July  13,  1917. 
Omaha   (Neb.)   Bee,  Mar.  4,  1917;  Mar.  24,  1918. 
Omaha    (Neb.)    World-Herald,   Feb.   3,    1917. 
Oshkosh    (Wis.)    Daily   Northwestern,  July  28,  1916. 
Palatka    (Fla.)    Advocate,   Mar.   10,   1917. 
Passaic  (N.  J.)  Herald.  Apr.  15,  1918. 
Paterson  (N.  J.)  Guardian,  Sept.  22,  1917. 
Peoria  (111.)  Journal,  Nov.  22>,  1917. 

Philadelphia  Bulletin,  Mar.  12,  June  29,  July  26-28,  30,  31,   1917. 
Philadelphia  Inquirer.  Feb.  24,  Mar.  2.  July  26-31.  Dec.  14,  1917;  Jan.  31,  1918. 
Philadelphia  North   American,  Aug.  9,  30,   Nov.  24,   1916;   Feb.  2,  Mar.  27, 

July  26-31,  1917. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  181 

Philadelphia  Public  Ledger,  May  11,   1916;  Jan.  26,   Apr.  6,  July   16,  26-31, 

Aug.  26,  1917;  Jan.  31.  May  27,  Aug.  2,  3.  14,  1918. 
Philadelphia  Record,  Apr.  8,  1915;  Dec.  9,  1916;  Mar.  2,  Apr.  1,  July  26-31, 

1917;  June   12,   1918. 
Philadelphia  Telegraph,  Oct.  11,  Nov.  21,  1916;  July  17,  26-31,  1917. 
Pittsburgh  Chronicle,  Oct.  17,  Dec.  1,   1916. 
Pittsburgh  Courier,  June  22,  1917. 
Pittsburgh  Dispatch,  Oct.   1,  Dec.  7,  1916;  Feb.  26,  Mar.  16,  Dec.  17,   1917; 

Mar.  7,  Apr.  11,  14,  1918. 
Pittsburgh  Gazette  Times,  Nov.  21,  1917;  June  28.  July  7,  1918. 
Pittsburgh  Leader,   Nov.   1,  Dec.  7,   1916;  June  28,  1918. 
Pittsburgh  Press,  Mar.  28,  29,  1917. 
Pittsburgh  Sun,  Mar.  26,   1917;   Apr.  11,  1918. 
Portland   (Me.)   Express  and  Advertiser,  Nov.  25,  1916. 
Portland    (Me.)    Press,  Aug.  10,  1917. 
Portland   (Ore.)    Oregonian,  Nov.  7,  1917. 
Providence    (R.  L)    Bulletin.  Nov.   11,  1916;   Feb.   13,  1918. 
Providence   (R.  L)  Journal,  Aug.  17,  28,  Oct.  29,  Nov.  9,  20,  Dec.  23,  1916; 

Aug.  7,  1918. 
Providence   (R.  I.)    Tribune,  Dec.  22,  1917. 
Raleigh    (N.  C.)    Independent,  Apr.  28,  July  21,   Sept.  15,  Oct.  27,  Dec.  22, 

1917;  June  1,  29,  1918. 
Raleigh  (N.  C.)  News  and  Observer,  Aug.  11,  Oct.  4,  Nov.  14,  1916, 
Reading   (Pa.)   Telegram,  Sept.  7,  1916;  July  11,  1917. 
Richmond   (Va.)    News  Leader,  July  6,  1917;  June  4,  1918. 
Richmond   (Va.)    Planet,  Mar.  10,  Apr.  7,  28,  May  5,  19,  June  23,  Aug.  18, 

1917 ;  Feb.  16,  28,  Mar.  30,  Apr.  20,  June  8,  July  6,  1918. 
Richmond  (Va.)  Times-Dispatch,  Aug.  26,  1916. 

Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Democrat  Chronicle,  June  5,  1916;  Feb.  18,  Mar.  27,  1917. 
Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Post  Express,  Nov.  11,  17,  Dec.  8,  1916;  Jan.  8,  1918, 
Rochester   (N.  Y.)   Times,  Dec.  11,  1916. 
Rochester   (N.  Y.)   Union  and  Advertiser,  Dec.  8,  1916. 
Rome  (N.  Y.)   Sentinel,  Mar.  21,  1917. 
Sacramento    (Cal.)   Union,  June  16,   1917. 
Saginaw  (Mich.)  Courier-Herald,  Mar.  21,  1917. 
St.  Joseph    (Mo.)    News.  Feb.   17,   1917. 
St.  Louis  Argus,  Aug.  25,  Oct.  20,  1916;  Jan.  6.  Feb.  9,  Mar.  23,  June  1,  8, 

Sept.  14,  Oct.  5,  1917;  Mar.  15,  22,  Aug.  9,  Sept.  27,  Oct.  4,  11,  1918. 
St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat,  Feb.  15,  May  30,  31,  July  2-18,   1917;  March  28, 

1918. 
St.  Louis  Post-Dispatch,  Dec.  1,  10,  14,  1916;  May  30,  31,  July  2-18;  Sept.  9, 

Nov.  3,  1917;  May  10,  11,  July  12,  18,  Aug.  28,  1918. 
St.  Louis  Star,  May  30,  31,  July  2-6,  8-13,  15-18,  1917. 
St.  Louis  Times,  May  30,  31.  July  2-6,  8-13,  15-18,  Aug.  11,  28,  1917. 
Salina  (Kas.)   Union,  Aug.  30,  1917. 
Salt  Lake  City   (Utah)    Tribune,  Mar.  4,  1917. 

San  Antonio   (Tex.)    Light,  Sept.  10.   1916;   May  14,   Sept.  1,   1918. 
San  Jose    (Cal.)    Herald,   Aug.  28,   1916. 
Savannah  (Ga.)  Morning  News,  July  31,  Aug.  2,  1916;  Jan.  3,  July  18,  1917; 

June  6,  1918. 
Savannah  Tribune,  Aug.  5,  19,  Sept.  9,  23,  30,  Nov.  11,  Oct.  28.  1916;  Feb.  3, 
Mar.  31,  Apr.  7,  28,  May  10.  12,   17,   19,  June  2,  July  2,  1917;  Feb.   13. 
Mar.  16,  Apr.  13,  May  20,  July  20,  27,  Aug.  3,  24,  1918. 
St.  Paul   (Minn.)    News,  June  12,  14,  17,  1918. 
St.  Paul  (Minn.)   Pioneer  Press,  July  9,  Oct.  5,  1915;  Dec.  1,  1916;  Aug.  6, 

1918. 
Scranton   (Pa.)   News,  Mar.  3,  1915. 
Seattle   (Wash.)    Post,  Dec.  15,  1916;  Aug.  16,  1917. 
Sharon  (Pa.)  Herald,  Feb.  1,  1917. 
Shreveport  (La.)  Times,  July  18,  Aug.  2,  Oct.  6,  1917;  May  28,  1918. 


182  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Southern   Standard    (Macon,  Ga.).  June  16,  1917;  May  2,  13,  1918. 
Southwestern  Christian  Advocate   (New  Orleans),  Dec.  7,  1916;  Jan.  4,  11, 

Mar.  1,  22,  July  19,  Oct.  18,  1917;  Mar.  9.  May  30,  July  25,  Aug.  22,  1918. 
Spartanburg   (S.  C.)    Journal,   Sept.  11,   1917. 
Spokane   (Wash.)   Chronicle,  Dec.  11,  1916. 
Springfield  (Mass.)   News.  Mar.  6,  1918. 
Springfield    (Ohio)    News,  Aug.  2,   1917. 
Springfield   (Mass.)   Republican,  May  12,  Sept.  8,  10,  Nov.  1,  17,  27,  Dec.  3, 

1916;  Jan.  17,  19,  21,  25,  Feb.  15,  Mar.  8-11,  July  7,  Aug.  8,  Nov.  27. 

1917;  Jan.  20,  May  15,  1918. 
Springfield  (Mo.)  Republican,  Sept.  9,  1917;  Mar.  14,  1918. 
Springfield  (Mass.)  Union,  Apr.  16,  1915;  July  16,  Sept.  6,  1916;  Apr.  2,  1917. 
Star  of  Zion   (Charlotte,  N.  C),  July  19,  Aug.  16,  1917. 
Steubenville    (Ohio)    Star,  Aug.  4,  20,   1917. 
Syracuse  (N.  Y.)  Herald,  July  17,  1917. 
Syracuse  (N.  Y.)  Journal,  Aug.  4,  1917. 

Syracuse  (N.  Y.)   Post- Standard.  Aug.  2,  1916;  Oct.  10,  1917. 
Tacoma   (Wash.)   News,  May  25,  1918. 
Tampa  (Fla.)  Times,  June  8,  9,  1917. 
Texas  Freeman   (Houston),  Oct.  13,  1917. 
The   Daily   Herald    (Baltimore),   Nov.   22,   Dec.    17,    1917;   Jan.   5,   Feb.    16, 

Mar.  8,  16,  23,  27,  30,  April  1,  2,  16,  17,  19,  22,  May  11,  13,  17,  18,  28,  30, 

June  6,  July  8,  31,  Aug.  6,  1918. 
The  Economic  World    (New  York  City),  Mar.  9,  June  29,   1918. 
The  Living  Church   (Milwaukee),  Dec.  22,  1917. 
The  Observer    (New  York  City),  Oct.  7,  1916. 
The  Piedmont   (Greenville,  S.  C),  Mar.  16,  1917. 
The   Progressive  Farmer    (Raleigh,   N.   C),  Jan.  27,   1917. 
The  Public   (New  York  City),   Nov.  30,  1917;   May  25,   1918. 
The  Standard   (Chicago),  July  16,  1917;  Jan.  26,  1918. 
The  Voice  of  the  People   (Birmingham),  Aug.  5,  Dec.  2,  16,  1916;  Apr.  22, 

May  19,  July  14,  1917. 
The  Watchman    (New  York  City),  Mar.  1,  1917. 
Topeka   (Kas.)    Plain  Dealer,  Dec.  20,  1916;  June  29,  1917. 
Toledo    (Ohio)    Blade,  July  12,  Aug.  20,   1917. 
Toledo   (Ohio)    Times,  June  14,  1917. 
Trenton    (N.  J.)    State  Gazette,  Aug.  10,  Sept.  24,  Oct.  8,  Nov.  14,  Dec.  3, 

1917. 
Trenton   (N.  J.)   Times,  July  28,  Aug.  6,  1916;  July  6,  Sept.  18,  19,  21,  22, 

28,  Oct.  13,  Dec.  3.  1917;  Feb.  13,  Mar.  9,  Apr.  10,  July  11,  1918. 
Troy  (N.  Y.)  Times,  July  7,  Nov.  1,  1916;  Feb.  16,  Mar.  28,  July  25,  1917. 
Utica   (N.  Y.)   Observer,  Nov.  17.  1916;  Aug.  22,  1917. 
Utica   (N.  Y.)   Press,  Sept.  15,  1917. 
Valdosta    (Ga.)    Times,  July  3,   1917:   Jan.  29,   1918. 

Vicksburg  (Miss.)  Herald,  Aug.  19,  1916;  July  7,  Dec.  7,  1917;  July  30,  1918. 
Vicksburg  (Miss.)  Post,  Nov.  9,  1917;  July  31,  1918. 
Walla  Walla   (Wash.)   Bulletin,  Mar.   13,   1918. 
Washington  (D.  C.)  Bee,  Feb.  13,  1915;  Nov.  11,  1917;  Mar.  23,  Aug.  17,  24, 

Sept.  7,  1918. 
Washington   (D.  C.)   Herald,  Jan.  23,  1916. 
Washington    (D.   C.)    National  Tribune,   Nov.  10,  1916. 
Washington  (D.  C.)   Post,  Dec.  4,  1916;  Feb.  25,  1918. 

Washington  (D.  C.)  Star,  Nov.  23,  1916:  Apr.  2,  July  18,  1917;  Sept.  8,  1918. 
Washington  (D.  C.)  Times,  Nov.  13.  1916:  Sept.  8,  1918. 
Waterbury   (Conn.)    Democrat,  Feb.  8,  Oct.  29,   1917. 
Waterbury    (Conn.)    Republican,   July  4,   1917. 
Waterloo   (Iowa)   Courier,  Apr.  3,  1918. 
Watertown    (N.  Y.)   Times,  Nov.  17.  1916:   Feb.  2,  1917. 
Weekly  Witness   (New  York  City),  Sept.  6,  1916. 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY  183 

Westerly   (R.  I.)   Sun,  Nov.  8,  1916. 

Wilmington    (Del.)    News,  Dec.   1,   1916;   Sept.   17,   1917. 

Wisconsin  Weekly  Blade  (Madison,  Wis.),  Jan.  18,  Mar.  15,  Apr.  5,  1917. 

Women's  Wear   (New  York  City),  July   12,  13,  21,  Oct.  3,  1917;  Jan.  23, 

Mar.  27,  Aug.  5,  1918. 
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Youngstown   (Ohio)   Telegram,  Aug.  21,  1917. 
Youngstown  (Ohio)  Vindicator,  Jan.  9,  Mar.  23,  1918. 


INDEX 


Adams,   Henry,  4,  6. 

Abbott,    William,    84. 

African    Methodist    Episcopal    Church,    145. 

Akron,   migrations  to,   07,   126. 

Alabama:  migrations  from,  4,  7,  59,  63-74, 
95-96,  107,  109;  causes  of  migrations, 
14-15,  20-21;  Colonization  Council,  5; 
efforts  to  check  migrations,  72,  76;  ef- 
fects of  migrations,  86. 

Albany,   migrations   to,   56. 

Albert  Trostel  Co.,  employment  of  negro 
labor,  114115. 

Allis  Chalmers  Co.,  employment  of  negro 
labor.   114. 

Altoona,  migrations  to,   134. 

Aluminum  Ore  Works,  employment  of  negro 
labor.    100-101. 

Amaca,  Tom,  37. 

American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society, 
144. 

American  Car  &  Foundry  Co.,  employment 
of    negro   labor,    97. 

American  Cast  Iron  Pipe  Co.,  employment 
of    negro    labor,    93. 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  147-148. 
See  also   Labor  Unions. 

American  International  Shipbuilding  Co., 
employment   of   negro   labor,    139. 

American  Steel  &  Wire  Co.,  employment  of 
negro  labor,   ]  08-1 09. 

Andrews,  W.  T.,  172. 

Arkansas:  migrations  to,  3,^9,  65-68;  ef- 
forts to  check  migrations,   72. 

Armour  &  Co.,  employment  of  negro  labor, 
100. 

Armstrong  Association.   137-138. 

Atlanta  Constitution,   59. 

Atlanta   Independent,    162. 

Atlanta  Mutual  Insurance  Co.,  64. 

Badham,   Henry  L.,  20. 

Bailey,   H.   C,   128. 

Banks,    Edward    T.,    128. 

Beloit:    migrations    to,    110-111;    wages    in, 

111. 
Beloit    News,    159. 
Bibliography,   175-183. 
Birmingham   Voice  of  the  People,   160. 
"  Bloody    Isle,"   The,   99. 
Boll  weevil,  damage  to  cotton  crops  by,  14, 

165. 
Booker    T.    Washington    Social    Settlement, 

114. 
Bricklayers,  wages  of,   16,   86. 
Brickmasons,   wages   of,   86. 
Brink,    Gilbert    N.,    144. 
Brown    Farm,    .37. 
Bryant,   Lewis   T.,    141. _ 
Buffalo,  migrations  to,  56,  67. 
Building  trades,  negroes   employed  in,   122. 
Bus  boys,   wages  of,   17. 
Butler,  J.   H.,   75. 
Butchers,   wages   of,   114. 

Cantonments,  construction  of.  in  South,  84. 
Capital,  influence  on  migration  of  Northern, 

47. 
Carpenters:    in   Pittsburgh,    122;   wages   of, 

16,    86. 
Carter.    R.    A.,    146. 


Causes  of  migrations:  Of  1879,  3-6;  un- 
employment, 14-15,  59;  failure  of  crops, 
14-15,  165;  wages,  14-16,  83;  demand  for 
labor  in  North,  14,  17-18,  2S-29,  102, 
111;  lack  of  educational  facilities,  18- 
19,  81,  S3;  treatment  in  courts,  19-20, 
22,  83-85;  fee  system  and  street  tax,  20- 
21;  traveling  accommodations,  21-22; 
lynchings  and  mob  violence,  18-19,  22, 
79-81.  S3,  166-167;  prejudice,  24-25, 
83;  between  cities  in  North,  117;  as 
expressed    through    the    press,    152-174. 

Champion  Chemical  Co.,  128. 

Charlotte  Star  of  Zion,  161. 

Chart  showing  extent  and  trend  of  migra- 
tions,   71. 

Chattanooga  Times,   169. 

Chauffeurs,   wages  of,    114. 

Chicago:  migrations  to,  45,  58,  66-67,  69, 
102;  opportunities,  29,  102;  increases  in 
negro  population,  7,  51;  housing,  102- 
106;  wages,  17,  102-103,  114;  welfare 
work,  103.  See  also  East  Chicago; 
Illinois. 

Chicago   Defender,  29-33. 

Chicago  Renting  Agents  Association,  103. 

Chicago  Women's  Club,  103. 

Chisholm,    J.    N.,    37. 

Christian  Index.    163. 

Churches:  effects  of  migrations  on,  86, 
144;   aid  rendered   by,   132,   144-147. 

Cigar  factories,  employment  of  women  in, 
129. 

Cincinnati,   migrations  to,   57,    125. 

Cleveland,    migrations    to,    57,    120-127. 

Cleveland  Association  of  Colored  Men. 
128. 

Cleveland   Welfare    Federation,    126. 

Colonization    Council,    4-5. 

Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
146. 

Colored    Protective   Association,    137. 

Columbia    (S.    C.)    State,    155. 

Columbus,  migrations  to,   7,   57,   126. 

Commerce  and  Labor,   Secretary  of,  99. 

Conferences:  to  check  migrations,  79-81, 
83;  in  Ohio,  128;  in  New  Jersey,  140; 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  147-148; 
National  League  on  Urban  Conditions 
among   Negroes,   143-144,   149. 

Connecticut:  demand  for  labor,  54;  mi- 
grations to.  56,  58,  141-142;  wages,  142. 
See   also   Hartford. 

Connors.    William    R.,    127. 

Convict   system,   3-4. 

Cooks,     122. 

Core  makers,    129. 

Correspondence,  influence  of,  on  migra- 
tions,  34,   69. 

Cotton   crop,    failures   of,    14. 

Council   of  National  Defense,   129 

Courts,    treatment    in:    cause    of   migrations 
19-20,    22,    83-85;    effects   of   migrations; 

Crawford,    Anthony,    47. 
Credit    system,    92-93. 
Crop   failures,   14-15. 
Cudahy   i^oap  Factory,   109. 
Culver,  Charles   M.,   130. 


1S5 


186 


INDEX 


Dallas    Express,    162. 

Davis,    I.    D.,    81. 

Dayton,    migraticns    to,    126. 

Discussion,   stimulus  to  migration,   20.  _ 

District  of  Columbia,  migrations  to,   57. 

Diversification   of   crops,   15. 

Delaware,   migrations   to,   57,    134. 

Delinquency  problem,  study  of,  in  Cleve- 
land,   i2i. 

Detroit:  opportunities  in,  28;  negro  labor, 
51,  130-131;  wages,  12'J;  welfare  work, 
131-132;  housing,  131-132.  See  also 
Michigan. 

Detroit    Labor   News,    151. 

Detroit    Employers'    Association,    130. 

Dock    hands,    wages   of,    114. 

Domestic  service:  in  North,  17,  50-51, 
122,   129;    in   South,   16. 

Domination,   removal   of   fear   of,   91. 

Dressmaking    trade,    negro    labor    in,    50. 

East  Chicago:  migrations  to,  109-110; 
wages,  109-110;  housing,  109-110;  recre- 
ation facilities,  110;  prejudice,  110;  re- 
turns to  former  homes  from,  110.  See 
also    Chicago;    Illinois.  ,„,^, 

East  St.  Louis:  migrations  to,  5(,  99-101; 
riot  of  1917,  98-101;  wages,  99;  de- 
mand for  labor,  99;  housing,  100.  See 
also   St.    Louis;    Missouri 

East   St.   Louis  Journal,    101. 

Economic  policy  of  South,  change  m,  fol- 
lowing migrations,  87-88. 

Edge,  Governor,  of  New  Jersey,  140. 

Educational  facilities:  lack  of,  cause  of 
migration,  18-19,  81,  S3;  improvement 
in,   83,   90-91;    separation    in    schools,    96. 

Effects  on  the  North:  increase  in  crime, 
141;   views   of  the   press,   152-174. 

Effects  on  the  South:  wages,  86-87; 
change  in  economic  policies,  88-92;  labor 
unions,  88.  147-151;  lessening  of  preju- 
dice. 88-89;  welfare  work,  88,  92-94; 
increased  educational  facilities,  83,  90- 
91;  land  tenure  and  credit  systems,  92- 
93;   views   of  the   press,    152-174. 

Efforts  of  the  North  to  induce  migration: 
labor  agents,  29,  36  37,  40,  60  65; 
in    Milwaukee,    112,    114;    in    Pittsburgh, 

119-120.  ,      ,        .        ■ 

Efforts  of  the  South  to  check  migration: 
suppression  of  labor  agents,  38.  72-74, 
76-77;  through  Tuskegee  Institute,  81- 
82;  through  the  churches,  83;  legislation, 
72-73  76;  increased  wages,  79,  83; 
change  in  policies,  84-85;  improved  edu- 
cational   facilities,    83.    90-91. 

Eiffin,    William    T.,    141. 

Ellis,    J.    B.,    81.  . 

Emerson  &  Birmingham:  employment  ot 
negro  labor,  106;  housing  of  its  labor, 
107 

Epstein,    Abraham,    IS.    119-120     122-123. 

Erie   Railroad,   demand   of,    for   labor,    JdD. 

Factories,   negro   labor   employed   in,    51. 

Fairbanks,  Morse  &  Co.,  employment  ot 
negro   labor.    111. 

Farm  hands,  wages  of,   86. 

Faulks'  Manufacturing  Co.,  employment  of 
negro  labor,    114-115. 

Fee    system.    20-21. 

Firemen,  wages  of,   114. 

Floods    as    cause    of   migration,    14. 

Florida:  migrations  to.  9;  migrations  from, 
38,  43-44,  55,  .59.  62-63.  69;  causes  of 
migration.  14,  22;  efforts  to  check  mi- 
gration.   72-73. 

Floyd,   William,    54. 


Foundrymen,    wages    of:    in    Massachusetts, 

17;    in    Minnesota,    18;    in    Chicago,    17, 

114. 
Fraily,    E.    J.,    Jr.,    54. 
Free    Sewing    Machine    Co.:    employment    of 

negro    labor,    106;    housing    of    its    labor, 

107. 
Free  transportation,  47-48. 

Garment  factories,  employment  of  women 
in.    129. 

Gasselli  Chemical  Co.,  employment  of  negro 
labor.    109-110. 

Georgia:  migrations  from,  38,  59-62,  69, 
109;  causes  of  migrations,  14,  22,  79- 
80,  83;  efforts  to  check  migrations,  72- 
76,  79,  80-81,  86;  activities  of  labor 
agents,    60. 

Georgia  Enquirer  Sun,   1.54. 

Glass  works,  employment  of  negro  labor  in, 
100. 

Goldsmiths  Detinning  Co.,  employment  of 
negro    labor,    100. 

Gompers,  Samuel,  151.  See  also  Ameri- 
can   Federation    of    Labor. 

Great    Lakes    Naval    Training    Station,    108. 

Great   Northern   Drive,   The,   30,    33. 

Grimke,    Archibald    H.,    150. 

Harrisburg,  migrations  to,  57,   134. 

Harris,   George   W.,    150. 

Hartford:  migrations  to,  56,  58,  141-142; 
wages,     142;     housing,     142. 

Hartford    Baptist   Association,    141. 

Hartford  Civic  Club,  Housing  Committee 
of.    142. 

Haynes,   George  E.,   129. 

Hobson  &  Walkers  Brick  Yard,  employ- 
ment  of   negro   labor,   109. 

Hoffman  Manufacturing  Co.,  employment 
of  negro  labor,   114-115. 

Home  Missions  Council  of  Churches  of 
Christ    in    America,    132,    145. 

Housing  in  St.  Louis,  97-98;  in  East 
St.  Louis,  100;  in  Chicago,  102-106;  in 
Rockford,  106-107;  in  Waukegan,  108; 
in  East  Chicago,  109-110;  in  Beloit,  111; 
in  Milwaukee,  117-118;  in  PittslDurgh, 
120-122;  in  Cleveland,  126-127;  in  De- 
troit, 131-132;  in  Pennsylvania,  135;  in 
Philadelphia,  137-139;  in  New  Jersey, 
139-140;   in  Hartford,   141-142. 

Howe,    Frederick    C,    53. 

Illinois:  migrations  to,  7,  58,  68,  108- 
109;  housing,  108;  wages,  108;  preju- 
dice, 109;  migrations  from,  112.  See  also 
Chicago:    East    Chicago. 

Illinois  Central  Railroad,  importation  of 
negro    labor,    102, 

Immigration  Bureau  of  Social  Uplift  Work 
for    Negroes,    143. 

Indiana,   migrations  to,   5,   57,   68. 

Influences  on  migrations:  discussion,  26; 
public  speaking,  27-28;  attitude  of 
North,  27;  reports  of  opportunities  in 
North,  28-29.  34;  rumors.  28-29,  40, 
78-79;  activities  of  Chicago  Defender,  29- 
33;  activities  of  labor  agents.  29,  36- 
37;  correspondence,  34,  40,  69;  circula- 
tion  of  literature  and   poems,   35,  37. 

Inland  Steel  Foundry,  employment  of  negro 
labor,    109. 

Interdenominational  Ministerial  Union,  137. 

International  Lead  Refining  Co.,  employ- 
ment  of   negro   labor,    109. 

Intersectional  migration:  number  born  in 
specified  divisions  and  living  in  or  out 
of  these  divisions.  10:  number  living  in 
specified    divisions,    10;     migration    north 


INDEX 


187 


to  south,  south  to  north  and  east  to  west, 
11;  net  migration  eastward  and  west- 
ward and  northward  and  southward,  12. 

Interstate  Mill,  employment  of  negro  labor, 
109. 

Intoxicants,  use  of,  among  negroes  in  Pitts- 
burgh,  124. 

Invasion,    rumors   of,   28. 

Iowa,  migrations  from,   to  Wisconsin,   112. 

Iron  and  steel  industries,  employment  of 
negro    labor    in,    113. 

Janitors:  in  Milwaukee,  114;  in  Pittsburgh, 

122 
Jersey     City,    migrations    to,    o(. 
Johnson,  Charles  S.,   2;>,  128. 
Jones,  E.   K.,  it::,   150. 
Jones,   Thomas  Jesse^^  18,    150. 
Joyce,    labor    agent,    72. 

Kansas,  migrations  to,  3-6,  58. 

Kentucky:     migrations    to,    08;    migrations 

from,   'J5. 
Krolick    Co.,     employment     of    women    by, 

131. 

Labor: — Labor  agents:  activities  of,  29,  36- 
37,  40,  00,  65;  tram  St.  Louis,  96; 
from  East  St.  Louis,  99;  from  Mil- 
waukee, 112;  from  Pittsburgh,  120; 
from  Pennsylvania,  135;  efforts  of  _the 
South  to  suppress,  38,  72-74,  76-77; 
inquiry  of  Council  of  National  Defense, 
129. 
Labor    Unions:    prejudice   of,   49;    change 

in  policy,  88,  1471.'1. 
Suitability   of   negro   labor.    115-116,    123, 
130-131;    demand    i.i     North    for,     14; 
competition    in    North,    50-52;    compari- 
son of  negro  with   foreign   labor,    125; 
wages — see   Wages. 
Labor,   Department  of,   53,   78. 
Lancaster,    B.    S.,    150. 
Lancaster,   migrations  to,   134. 
Land   tenure    system,    improvement    in,    92- 

93. 
Legal  aid  to  negroes  in  North,  127._ 
Legislation:   to   check  migration,   72-73,   76; 

to  aid   migrants   in   North,    141. 
Lindeman-Hoverson     Co.,     A.     J.,     employ- 
ment of  negro   labor,   113-115. 
Literature,    circulation    of,    influence   on   mi- 
gration,   35. 
Louisiana:     migrations     from,     4,     59,     68; 
causes    of     migrations,     14;     Colonization 
Council,    5;    efforts   to    check    migrations, 
78. 
Lumber  stackers,  wages  of,   103. 
Lynchings:    cause  ot   migrations,   18-19,   22, 
79-81.    83,    166-167;    checking    of,    94; 
Anthony    Crawford,    47;    in    Georgia,    22, 
79;    in   Tennessee,   22. 

Machinists:  in  Detroit,  129;  in  Massachu- 
setts,  17. 

Macon    Telegraph,    150 

Marks  Manufacturing  Co.,  wages  paid  by, 
103. 

INIassachusetts:  migrations  to,  56;  wages  in, 
17. 

Massacres,   cause   of  migration  of   1879,   4. 

:MaxweIl,    William    IL,    140. 

Mechanics,    negro    labor    in,    .51, 

Memphis   Commercial  Appeal,    1.54. 

Michigan:  migrations  to,  58,  68,  129-133; 
migrations   from,    112.      See   also   Detroit. 

Middletown,  migrations  to,    126. 

Migrations:  to  Kansas,  1879,  3-6;  to 
Arkansas    and    Texas,     1888    and    1889, 


3;  of  May  15,  1917,  30-33;  of  .\ugust 
15,  1917,  33;  chart  showing  extent  and 
trend  of.  71;  efforts  lo  check — see  Ef- 
forts;   effects   of — see   Effects. 

Milwaukee:  migrations  to,  111-118;  efforts 
to  secure  negro  labor,  111-112,  114; 
recreation  facilities,  112,  117-118;  wages, 
113-115;  prejudice,  110;  housing,  117- 
118;  migrations   from,    117. 

Milwaukee  Coke  &  Gas  Co.,  employment  of 
negro    labor,    113-115. 

Ministers,  aid  of,  sought  to  check  migra- 
tions,   8.3. 

Minnesota:  migrations  from,  to  Wisconsin, 
112;    wages    in,    18. 

Mississippi:  migrations  from,  4,  45,  59,  64- 
68,  95-96,  99,  109,  111;  Colonization 
Council,  5;  causes  of  migrations,  14-1.5, 
20,  24-25;  efforts  to  check  migrations,  72, 
76-78,  82-83;  effects  of  migrations,  87, 
89-90. 

Missouri,  migrations  to,  57.  See  also  St. 
Louis;    East    St.    Louis. 

Missouri  Malleable  Iron  Works,  employ- 
ment   of    negro    labor,    100 

Mob  violence,  79-80,  83,  167.  See  also 
Riots. 

Molders:  in  Chicago,  17;  in  Detroit,  129. 

Moldsetters,   in   Pittsburgh,    122 

Montgomery  Advertiser,  156,  165,  169- 
170. 

Moore.  Fred   R.,  150. 

Morris  &  Co.,  employment  of  negro  labor, 
100. 

Moton.  Robert   R.,  150  151. 

Motormen    in    Detroit,    28. 

Muckers,   wages   of,    114. 

Nagel,   Charles,   99. 

A'cishville   Banner,    153. 

National    Association    for    the    Advancement 

of  Colored   People,   98,   12S,   137,   151. 
National      League      on      Urban      Conditions 

among    Negroes:    aid    to    migrations,    54 

50;  welfare  work,  93.   143-144,  149;  con 

ferences,  143-144,   149;  in   St.  Louis,  98 

in   Chicago,  09,   104;    in   Pittsburgh,   121 

in  Detroit,  131-132;  in  Philadelphia,  137 
National     Malleable     Iron     Works,     employ 

ment   of   negro   labor,    113-115. 
National    organizations,    remedies   for   relief 

by,    143-151. 
Nebraska,  migrations  to,  58. 
Nelson  &   Co.,   employment  of  negro  labor, 

100 
New  Orleans  Times  Picayune,    152. 
Newark.      See    New    Jersey. 
New  Jersey:  migrations  to.  39.  56  57.  139; 

migrations   to    Newark.    50-58;    return    of 

migrants    to    South    from,    139;    housing, 

139-140;     wages,     140;     legislation,     141; 

effects   of  migrations,    141  ;   welfare  work, 

139-141. 
Newport  News  Shipbuilding  and   Dry  Dock 

Co.,    93. 
New  York,  migrations  to,   39,   56,   58,   67- 

68. 
New  York  New  Republic.   157. 
New   York  News,  54,  164. 
New    York    Age.    43. 
New   York   Globe,    159. 
Norfolk  Journal  and  Guide,  100. 
North:     opportunities,     17,     28-29;     attitude 

toward  migrants.  27,   136,   152-174;  aids 

to    migrants,    143-151. 
North    Carolina,    migrations    from,    4-5,    39. 
Northwest,   migrations  to,   69. 
Northwestern   Railroad,   need   of,   for   labor, 

108. 


188 


INDEX 


Gates,    W.    H.,    21. 

Ohio:     migrations     to,     7,     57,     125-129; 

housing,     126-127;     welfare     work,     126- 

128;    conferences    to    aid    migrants,    12S. 
Ohio   Federation   for   Uplift   of  the   Colored 

People,    128. 
Ohio    State    Council    of    National    Defense, 

128. 
Ohio  State  and  City  Labor  Bureau,  128. 
Ohio    Charter   Commission,   128. 
Oklahoma,   migrations   to,    9. 
Omaha,    migrations   to,    ;j8. 
Oshkosh  Daily  Northwestern,  158. 

Packing  houses,  negroes  employed  in:  East 
St.  Louis,  100;  Chicago,  29,  102;  Mil- 
waukee,   114. 

Painters:   in  Pittsburgh,   122;  wages  of,  86. 

Parker.    Judge   T.    A.,    81. 

Parks,    Rev.,    79. 

Pattern   Makers,   wages  of,    17. 

Pass    Riders,    77. 

Pennsylvania:  migrations  to,  9,  38-39,  55, 
57,  67,  134-139;  labor  agents  from,  135; 
returns  to  former  homes  from,  135.  See 
also    Philadelphia;    Pittsburgh. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad  Co.,  demand  of,  for 
labor.  69,  135. 

Persuasion,  use  of,  to  check  migrations,  79. 

Pfister-Vogel  Co.,  employment  of  negro 
labor,    114-115,    117. 

Philadelphia:  migrations  to,  57-58,  135; 
prejudice,  135;  attitude  of  negroes  in, 
toward  migrants,  136;  wages,  130;  riots, 
136;  housing,  137-139;  social  work,  137 
139.      See  also   Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia  Academy  of  Medicine,^  137. 

Philadelphia  Christian  Recorder.  164. 

Pittsburgh:  migrations  to,  58,  67,  119-125; 
efforts  to  secure  negro  labor,  119-120; 
housing,  120-122;  social  conditions  in, 
121,  124-125;  prejudice,  123;  wages,  18, 
123-124;  comparison  of  negro  labor  with 
foreign  labor,  125.  See  also  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Pittsburgh  Associated  Charities,  121. 

Pittsburgh   Dispatch,    160. 

Pittsburgh,    University    of,    121. 

Plankington  Packing  Co.,  employment  of 
negro    labor,    11,3-115. 

Plantation    government,    84. 

Poems,  circulation  of,  influence  on  migra- 
tion,  37. 

Political    prosecution    in    South,    4. 

Porters:  in  Chicago,  17;  in  Milwaukee, 
114;  in  Pittsburgh,  122;  wages  of,  17, 
114. 

Pottsville,   migrations   to,    134. 

Poughkeepsie,    migrations    to,   .'56. 

Prejudice:  Rockford,  107-108;  VVaukegan, 
109;  East  Chicago,  110;  Beloit,  111; 
Milwaukee.  116;  Pittsburgh,  123;  Phila- 
delphia, 135;  cause  of  migration,  .3,  22, 
24-25;  of  labor  unions,  49-51;  decrease 
in.    91. 

Press,  causes  and  effects  of  migrations,  as 
expressed    through   the,    1.52-174. 

Prisoners,     care    of    discharged,     127. 

Professional    men,    migration    of,    45. 

Public  opinion  regarding  migrations,  152- 
174. 

Public  speaking,  stimulation  of  migration 
by,   27-28. 

Puddlers,  employment  of,  in  Pittsburgh,  122. 

Railroads:  efforts  of,  to  secure  negro  labor, 
38,  120;   wages,  103;  in  Pittsburgh,   122. 
Raleigh    Independent.    161. 
Realty  Housing  and   Investment    Co.,    127. 


Reeves.    Alexander,    72. 

Remedies:  in  Georgia,  SO;  increased  edu- 
cational facilities,  83,  90;  through  W. 
P.  Thirkfield,  83;  through  Tuskegee  Insti- 
tute, 81;  conferences,  143-144;  through 
churches,  144-147;  through  labor  unions, 
147-151. 

Rents:  in  Chicago,  105;  in  Cleveland,  126; 
in  New  Jersey,  139;  in  Hartford,  142. 
See   also    Housing. 

Republic  Rolling  Mill,  employment  of  neero 
labor,    109. 

Returns  to  South:  from  East  Chicago,  110; 
from  Pennsylvania,  135;  from  New  Jer- 
sey,   139. 

Riley,    George   S.,    73. 

Riots:  in  East  St.  Louis,  98-100;  in  Phila- 
delphia,  136.     See  also  Mob  violence. 

Robinson,   Joe,    72. 

Robinson,    William,    107. 

Rockford:  migrations  to,  106-108;  housing, 
106-107;  wages,  106-107;  prejudice,  107- 
108. 

Rockford  Malleable  Iron  Company:  employ- 
ment of  negro  labor,  106-107;  housing  of 
Its  labor,   106-107;  wages  paid  by,  107. 

Rumors,   influence  on   migrations  of,   28-29 
40,  78-79. 

St.  Louis:  migrations  to,  57,  66  67,  95-101; 

separation,  95;  efforts  to  secure  migrants, 

96;   wages,    96-97;    housing,   97-98.     See 

also  East  St.   Louis;   Missouri. 
Sanitary    conditions:    improvements    in,    92. 

94;    in    St.    Louis,    98. 
Scarborough,   W.    S.,   128. 
Schwartz,  John  E.,  .37. 
Scott,    Emmett  J.,    150. 
Scroggs,  William  Oscar,  9. 
Segregation,    95-96. 
Servants.     See   Domestic  service. 
Shillady,   J.    R.,    150-151. 
Shoemakers,  wages  of,  114. 
Singleton,   "Pap"    (Benjamin),   5-6. 
Skilled  workers,  122,  129. 
Smith,    Bridges,    59. 
Social    conditions:    in    Pittsburgh,    121;    in 

Cleveland,  127.  See  also  Welfare  work. 
Social  Service  Commission  of  the  Churches 
^  of    Christ,    121. 

Solvay   Steel    Castings   Co.,    employment   of 
^  negro  labor,   114. 
South     Carolina:    migrations    from,     46-47; 

race    conference,    172. 
Southwestern    Christian    Advocate,    144. 
Springfield,    migrations    to,    126. 
Springfield    Union,    158. 
Stanton,    \'.    L.,    81. 
Steel   industry:   demand   for  labor,   38,   119; 

negroes    employed    in    Pittsburgh,    122. 
Steel    molders,    wages    of,    114. 
Stimulation    of  migrations.      See   Influences. 
.Street  construction  workers,  wages  of,    114. 
Street    tax    in    South,    cause    of    migration, 

20. 
Superstitions    of    migrants,    40,    45-46. 
Swift  and   Company,   employment   of  negro 

labor.  100. 

Tannery  laborers,  wages  of,  114. 

Teachers,    wages   of,    18. 

Tennessee:     migrations     from,     4-5,     95-96, 

99;    migrations    to,    68;    lynchings,    22. 
Tennessee  Coal,   Iron  and   Railroad  Co.,  93. 
Texas:    migrations    to,    3;    migrations    from, 

4;     Colonization     Council,    5. 
Theater  ushers,  women   employed  as,  129. 
Thirkfield,   Bishop   W.   P.,    83. 
Tifton    Gazette.   79. 


INDEX 


189 


Tobacco  fields,  wages  of  labor  employed  in, 
17. 

Trakem  Pump  Co.,  employment  of  negro 
labor.    106. 

Tunnell  Construction  Co.,  employment  of 
negro    labor,    114-115. 

Tuskegee  Institute:  efforts  to  check  migra- 
tions,   81;    conference    of,    82. 

Transfer  yards,  negro  labor  employed  in, 
100. 

Transportation,  influence  on  migration  of 
fears  of.  28-29. 

Transportation  paid  by  Northern  employ- 
ers,   135. 

Traveling  accommodations,  influence  on  mi- 
grations, 21-22;  effects  of  migrations,  91. 

Trenton,   migrations    to,    57. 

Truckers,  employment  of  negro  laborers  as, 
129. 

"  Underground    Railroad,"    68. 
Unemployment,   14-16,  59. 
Union    Central    Relief    Association.    64. 
United   States  Production   Co.,    109. 
Unskilled    labor,    122,    129. 

Vicksburg    Herald,    153. 
Virginia,    migrations   from,    39. 

Wages: — South:  cause  of  migrations,  14- 
18,  29,  34,  83,  171;  comments  of 
press,  84;  effects  of  migrations,  81, 
83  85-87  91 
North:  In  Pittsburgh,  18,  123-124;  in 
Massachusetts  17;  in  Minnesota,  18; 
in  St.  Louis,  96-97,  99;  in  Chicago, 
17.    102-103,    109-110,    114;    in    Rock- 


ford,  106-107;  in  Waukegan,  108;  in 
Beloit.  Ill;  in  Milwaukee,  113-115; 
in  Detroit,  129-130;  in  Philadelphia, 
136;  in  New  Jersey,  140:  in  Hart- 
ford. 142. 

Walker,   A.   P.,   37. 

Walla   Walla  Bulletin,    160. 

\\'arehousemen,   wages   of,    17. 

Waukegan,    migrations    to,    108-109. 

Waukegan  industries,  employment  of  negro 
labor.    108-109. 

Wehr  Steel  and  Machine  Shops,  employ- 
ment  of  negro   labor,    113. 

Welfare  work:  National  League  on  Urban 
Conditions  among  Negroes,  93,  143-144. 
149;  in  Chicago,  103;  in  Ohio,  126-128; 
in  Detroit,  131;  in  New  Jersey,  139- 
141;  in  Philadelphia,  137-139;  in  Hart- 
ford,   141-142. 

Wilberforce    University,    128. 

Wilder  Tannery  Co.,  employment  of  negro 
labor,    108. 

Wills.  J.    Walter,   128. 

Wilmington,   migrations  to,    134. 

Wilson   Packing  Co.,   wages  paid  by,   103. 

Winston,    Francis    D.,    153. 

Wisconsin:  migrations  to,  110-111;  wages, 
111.      See  also   Milwaukee. 

Women's   Health   League,   88. 

Woods,  J.    S.,    114. 

Wright,    R.    R.,    171. 

Yard    workers,    wages    of,    17. 

York,    migrations    to,    134. 

Young     Negroes'     Progressive     Association, 

132. 
Youngstovi^n,  migrations  to,  57,  126. 


121  08/99     nnLiil 


